New Zealand's Top Mummy Blogger Parenting Travel Blog Family Rugby

Winter Rugby – Our Great Kiwi Saturday Morning Ritual

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New Zealand's Top Mummy Blogger Parenting Travel Blog Family Rugby

The 2016 rugby season has just about wrapped up for us.  Ethan’s J1 team played their last game together on Saturday, a huge milestone as 18 out of the 22 boys are heading off to high school next year.  Saying goodbye to the rugby club and teammates you’ve played with since you were 5 (or younger!) is a big deal for both parents and players alike – whether the boys would admit that or not is a different story of course!

Ethan’s played rugby for 6 years now, and I’ve managed his team for most of those seasons.  Saturday morning is for rugby.

End of story.

This year our family was even more committed to the oval ball as Dave joined our friends and played his debutante year in the President’s (Over 35) division.

Edit:  Saturday, in it’s entirety, is for rugby.

One of the perks of running the rugby gauntlet all the way to J1 is that kick-off is at the leisurely (when you have kids!) hour of 10.40am.  That leaves plenty of time to enjoy a slow start to the day – complete with a hot breakfast of oats and a warm MILO – and just enough time to laze in your pajamas a bit too long, so even though you had plenty of time it’s always a mad rush to get everyone ready and out the door. Ahhhh Saturday, you’re actually just like every other day but with a different uniform lol.

As Saturdays stretch from 10am when Ethan’s warmup begins to 4pm when Dave’s game wraps up, Ethan’s rugby bag needs to be well stocked with LOTS of food and water.  He is usually one of the Touch Judges for his dad’s afternoon game and would fade like a flower if he hadn’t managed to refuel properly after his own game.  As part of his Saturday lunchbox, I’ve been slipping in a MILO ready to drink to keep him going for the afternoon.  Ethan’s not a big milk drinker so as well as ensuring he’s actually taking on-board enough calories for the day, I’m stoked because I know he’s going to get 50% of his daily calcium requirement from one 200ml Tetra pak.

New Zealand's Top Mummy Blogger Parenting Travel Blog Family Rugby

I have really busy, really active boys.  If Ethan and Nixon are barely slowing to eat it’s really important to me that what I can get into them is nourishing, addresses at least some of their nutritional requirements and gives them the energy they need to get back outside/on the field/in the mud!  If food is not fit-for-purpose then young boys simply won’t stop to eat.  When Ethan’s on a rugby bender all day on a Saturday, he’s going to opt for quick, convenient and ‘attractive’ options that don’t slow him down for too long.  MILO ready to drink has an impressive 4.5 star health rating and when combined with the other nutritious components in Ethan’s packed lunch, it ticks all the boxes and 99% of the time pre-empts the call of the greasy chips at the rugby club tuck shop.

That’s a choice I’m happy with.

Choosing wellness and teaching our kids to do the same is an integral part of modern parenting.  Encouraging active play, participation in fun, outdoor activities and getting bums off couches is something that unites all parents as we strive to do the best we can for our kids and ourselves.

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New Zealand's Top Mummy Blogger Parenting Travel Blog Family Rugby

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New Zealand's Top Mummy Blogger Parenting Travel Blog Family Rugby

Thanks so much to the MILO team for sponsoring this post and treating our rugby team to MILO after their final club game for 2016!

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