And usually 'something' involves me taking them somewhere, usually some place where sugary treats or craft supplies are sold.
This time 'something' involved me taking them on a bike ride.
"Hey mom," my eager spawn said, "can you take me, Sarah and Rachel on a bike ride?"
"Sounds good," I said, "except, you know, I DON'T OWN A BIKE!"
"That's okay," she said. "You can walk behind us."
"Okay?" I replied.
For whatever reason, I agreed. I would have preferred to stay in the air conditioned house and watch reruns of The Gilmore Girls on SoapNet, which happens to be my favorite weekend activity, but I didn't have a real excuse to say no. I searched for one. Oh, how I tried. But I couldn't come up with one single solitary excuse as to why I couldn't walk behind a trio of bike riding girls. Also, I do try my best to not discourage kids from participating in any sort of physical activity.
They wanted to ride to 7-11 for a Slurpee, but I put the kibosh on that because it's hard to ride a bike home whilst drinking a Slurpee. And then I'd be stuck carrying them all home, which is something I did not want to do. And we sure weren't going to hang around 7-11 while they finished them.
Instead, I proposed a bike ride/walk to Dairy Queen.
My suggestion was met with an eager seal of approval. I mean, really? Who is going to turn down ice cream?
With bike helmets affixed to their heads and tires properly inflated, we took off on our evening adventure.
But first, I fired up my Gamin GPS so we could see how far our trek might take us.
Taking lots of twists and turns and stopping to ride up and down 'the big hill by the library' a few times we went nearly four miles in total. The girls biked up to the street corners and would wait for me to catch up before taking off again.
It was a nice way to spend the evening.
It was so enjoyable, in fact, that the girls decided that a bike ride Sunday morning would be equally as enjoyable. Only this time, "you can run behind us, mom."
Somehow I agreed again. And at 7:30 am this morning, we set out on another bike ride/run. They tried to convince me to run/bike to IHOP or Dunkin Donuts (again with the sweet stuff!), but I declined. My red faced, sweat drenched running attire is not suitable for public places. I told them I'd make them a smoothie upon our return, which appeased them. Smoothies aren't doughnuts, but today, they'd have to do.
We went nearly five miles this morning. It was hot and hilly but the girls were tough and, much to my surprise, complained remarkably little. While I much prefer running solo and without having to stop at numerous stop lights, I needed that run. I've started a very informal training plan for the half marathon I'm running in October and a five mile run was just what the training plan ordered.
When we returned home, the girls were wiped out; they sat on the couch for nearly two hours and I think one of them even fell asleep!
It didn't last long, though. After their down time, I was talked in to taking them to Claire's at the mall.
Again, I agreed.
They've got me wrapped around their sticky little fingers.
2 comments:
I would choose Gilmore Girl reruns...love that show! I remember riding my bike while my dad ran when I was a kid. It's a good memory, since we did it a lot. Impressed you braved the heat...I'm hiding out in the AC all day!
I'm usually not that agreeable, but the girls had fun, so I guess that's what matters. I've learned that my quality of life is so much better when they aren't bored.
Even at 7:30am it was hot. I've been hiding for the remainder of the day.
You're going to have to start those long runs EARLY; it's amazing how much the humidity and opressive heat takes out of you.
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