Avert Your Eyes

I adore this photo of Joshua. It just, well, it looks just like him. This is the real Joshua - the goofball kid that makes stupid jokes and then laughs at them whether anyone joins in or not. He's such a little comedian.
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The running thing is still going - ankles are still holding out. My boys have slacked off and I had to get them back on track (literally! on track!) today. It's exhausting being the cheerleader sometimes.

"Come on! You can do it! Just one more minute!"

Combine that with the fact that I'm also the coach...

"Head up! Don't slump! Faster! Go Go Go!"

And also one of the athletes trudging alongside them, and it makes for one tired mama. The only way I can figure out to make it work is to do my run (so I can run at my ideal pace) AND theirs (so I can motivate them to not give up), which is great for my fitness level, but not always great for my attitude.

"Why would you do that?" I can hear some of you asking...

Well - here's the thing.  I have one child who is a natural born runner. He runs with ease, looks comfortable doing it, can run farther and faster than my other one.  But he struggles with motivation..."why am I doing this again?"

The other child struggles a bit with gross motor control - he slumps and shuffles and drags his feet. He gets cramps and pains and has a harder time breathing. He would honestly rather sit on a couch all day long every single day and stare at a wall than participate in most forms of exercise.

Like getting up and walking to the bathroom. Or breathing regularly.

BUT. Sitting on a couch all day and not moving is not really an option in this family. Not anymore, anyway. We (Dr. SmartyPants and I) have been guilty of couch potato-itis over the past decade. We've been watching our health slowly deteriorate into a post-40 haze of remember-whens, and we're just not going to continue down that slippery-slope.

So, yes - maybe on Friday I'll get up and go for my run early in the morning and then come home and drag my reluctant children out of the bed to go for theirs before it gets too hot...maybe I'll shuffle run alongside them for an extra 30 minutes of activity...maybe that's a little nuts...

But I'm operating on the belief that good habits will be forming in their little brains, that the satisfaction of a job well done will win out over the pull of the sofa, and that good triumphs over evil.

Okay. That last one may not fit there, but I felt the need for three points.

For now?

Now I think I need a nap.