Keep on running...

Time's been a little bit short this week, so I'm a few days late in posting this, but I still wanted to share this great moment for me. And at the end, there is even a great lesson to learn ;-)

We have an apartment that is set up in a way where you can go around in a circle (well, more in a square ;-)). Great for kids and especially my 3-year-old son, who loves running around there every night (if you want to tire out your kids before they go to bed, get an apartment like this). Just for giggles, we started counting one time, how often he would make it and multiplying that with the estimated distance of one round.

When we did, we realized, that this was quite a distance; more jokingly, we talked with him about races and how much fun they can be, but he right away caught fire and wanted to do this. So we "practiced" playing "race", and it took us about 10 minutes to go 200 ft, examining every single leaf and rock on the way (if you don't have kids and have never done this - do it; did you know, that every rock is unique?)

Chances wanted it that shortly after this I found a website about a race (that I wanted to take part myself, but couldn't that day), and they had a kids race for kids up to the age of 7, which was 0.6 km.


Still enthusiastic, my son said yes when I asked him if he wanted to take part, and we went there and had him singed up. As expected, the crowds did make him a little shy at first, after all he was by far the youngest, and our start was, mh, what's the opposite of a head start? But then, he remembered that "he was a tiger" ;-) and the tiger ran and ran and, with just one stop for re-adjusting the gloves ;-), we made it the whole way around running.

I had no idea, that you also get runner's high, when not you but your kid runs :-) He was really happy and proud of himself, and I was, of course, too. We're already looking forward to do the next run, as he told me he wants to do it again.


Oh, I promised a great lesson. One brought to us by an elder concerned (overprotecting, interfering, back-seat driving) lady, who, when my son got at little shy, left a comment like "well he's still to young to do that" (read it with a squeaky voice to get the picture). He LOVED doing it. He's still really proud of himself and playfully accomplishing things like that will help him build up self-assurance for his later life. And thanks to the lady, I was able to also teach my son, that you are never too little or whatever others say, for anything, as long as you believe in you yourself and love doing what you are doing.

A great lesson for his later life and a great reminder for us in the grown-up world. With this thought in mind, have a wonderful day today, and.. go get 'em, tiger ;-)