The Running of the Kindergartners

This morning I did another race... sort of. My daughter's school had a fundraising 5K run. The younger kids, like my daughter, Lily, ran one mile.

One mile is a long way on short kindergartner legs. Though everyone charged out of the gates like bulls, within half a block, we noticed one of Lily's little buddies falling behind. Last month, he had fallen off his bike or something. He said his back still hurt and he didn't want to run. In fact, he just wanted to go home.
Lily volunteered us to walk with him, so the three of us kept trucking down the street, hand in hand. Inevitably, we moved to the back of the pack.

Since the fun run was at 10:00 am, not everyone's mom could make it. I became the lonely straggler magnet, collecting the slow and left behind. At some point, I had gained charge of 6 kids, all holding hands across the width of the street.

At the half mile point, we were passed by the sixth graders on their second mile lap. One of my race buddies said he was sad because that meant he wasn't going to win. Lily, my little Jr  finisher, matter-of-factly explained that as long as we made it to the end, we would all win.

I darned near cried. It was one of the proudest moments I've had as a mother. This past year, I have worked so hard to instill the philosophy of finishing into my kids. I want them to have that firm foundation of self esteem that finishing brings. Not the wall of failures that I hid behind until I finally learned how to finish. Today is proof that my efforts are paying off. Lily corralled and encouraged our rag tag band of 5 and 6 year olds. At least until the finish line was in view, then the kids promptly took off at full speed to cross the flags.

There's something magical about a finish line. I know that even after running miles and miles, that sight gives me new strength to run faster and push a little farther.

So teach your kids to look for those finish lines in everything they do. Encourage that can do attitude with the philosophy of finishing, "Not everyone can win the race, but everyone can finish". Then they'll never feel like losers as long as they never give up.

Setting an Example

Do you ever feel like you're being watched?

If you are a mom, then you know exactly what I mean. Children have an amazing capacity to soak up behaviors like little sponges. So what are you giving them to learn?

It is an established fact that overweight and obese parents are more likely to have overweight and obese children. Why do you think that is? Genetics. Maybe a little. But more importantly, we share eating habits as a family. If mom has dessert after every meal, the kids will grow up and expect that dessert is an essential part of dinner rather just a treat. 

What about exercise? My family growing up did a lot of wonderful things together. Not one of them was active. Lots of learning, reading, playing an instrument, etc. No sports, no hiking or biking. So as an adult, I didn't have any of these things in my repertoire. 

free image courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net

You don't have to shove your kid on a treadmill for 30 minutes a day (That was done to me. Don't do it!) Lead by example and family fun. Show your kids now how to lead a healthy HAPPY active lifestyle. If I complain constantly about working out and being on a diet, I guarantee my little girls will grow up having issues too.

The Long Run: Indoctrinating the Kids

One of the biggest reasons I was fat was a lifetime of inactivity. As a kid I never played a sport. Didn't ride my bike. The only thing I exercised was my fingers by playing video games.

I'm making sure I don't fall into the same trap with my kiddos. So I'm indoctrinating them into the cult of physical fitness now. I'm not pushing anything about body shapes or weight, just that we need to be healthy and strong.

I could just put them on a machine at the gym, but I want it to be fun and a family way of life. So this weekend my 5 and 3 year old ran their first race with me. It was a mile long and at the end we got covered in colored chalk like in Color Me Rad. They had a blast and got their very first finishers medal.

Hopefully I am not only teaching them to enjoy an active lifestyle, but also the value of completing things vs competition. We came in dead last, but it didn't matter. Because we finished.

Chubby Wubby

I'm a wee bit concerned. My 5 year old is running around calling her sister chubby wubby. In a very cute and nice way of course. But still, I worry. Where is this coming from? TV? Or worse, my own preoccupation with fat?

I'm hoping it's not the latter. I have tried hard not to bemoan my own "chubby wubby" rolls in the company of small kids. But this plays to my bigger fear, of having weight obsessed kids. It made my life miserable from about 12 yr old on. I don't want that for my children. I want fit, healthy, happy kidlets- no matter the size or shape

I was about to sit down and have the chat about fat with the 5 yr old when I heard it. The gummy bear song on her iPod. The lyrics of which are "chubby wubby funny looking gummy bear". Aha! The culprit was found

In an effort to avoid giving the kids my issues, I very nearly introduced it to her unnecessarily. Apparently one can be a bit too over vigilant. In the future I will just try to be easy breezy about it as I can.