Dingos Run Walk Dance Box Pose bike and Swim into 2013 - Page 13

[sparkletruck]

Regarding Girl/Kids running. This was provocative (about two sisters who run marathons. They are 12 and 10, maybe?):

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/04/sports/too-fast-too-soon-young-endurance-runners-draw-cheers-and-concerns.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

[loftmama]

Fascinating.

[loftmama]

Fascinating.

[Shantimama]

I just helped ds review for his World Religions exam on Monday. He understands the material beautifully. The funny thing? His dad is a minister, he has gone to Catholic schools for the past six years, and Christianity is the only section he struggled with  

[MelW]

The stride article is interesting. It makes sense- different speeds, running surfaces and likely even different size/build/anatomies would result in and require different strides.

Sparkle, provocative, for sure. The thing I always worry about with kids so consumed by one thing at a young age (be it a sport, instrument, or other obsession) is what happens if they change interests, or have an injury, or otherwise can't do their passion anymore. I've see kids really flounder as teens suddenly adrift without he benefit of a diversity of interests and activities and talents.

Official community plan meeting done. I have a bit of regret about bringing my youngest, who worked her way through every snack and activity I crammed into the backpack and was then restless. There were only 2-3 people in their 30s, one in 20s and my kids for a community with a median age of 38. So we were there to represent, and added in a nice bit of networking. The prof seemed happy to see kids out, which helped me to get over a few dirty looks from the crowd. Community meetings, people... You can't sit and talk about how to engage youth while glaring at them.

We biked for he first time since the December snow (it's still here, but the roads are clear), and are going climbing now. We'll see what my shoulder can handle- I still had to sit out a lot of upper body work last night at bootcamp.

[bec]

Those were a couple of amazing articles.  It makes me think that maybe my stride isn't really wrong.  I just need to make sure it is what is working for me.  Also, on the young kids running.  I am also concerned with life balance.  None of my kids are so talented at any one thing (at the moment) that it overshadows everything else.  Their running is not super fast (they run at my pace, but could probably run a bit faster), and they take walk breaks when they need.  I want this to be fun for them.  I don't want them to get discouraged.  I know they would push hard for me, but it would be to please me, not themselves.  Katie, I can see holds herself back.  She doesn't like to push to discomfort.  You know that nauseous feel you get when you push to the lactic threshold?  She sees absolutely no reason to do that.  Why would you try to push so hard that you want to throw up?!  I see her point.  I'm proud of them for getting out there.  I figure that I am following their lead (kind of like running with the dog), and trust them to tell me when it is enough (and they do). 

[sparkletruck]

I have mixed feelings about focusing on one thing. It seems that people who have the drive to excel at one thing have the drive to excel at more than one thing, so it's not necessarily an either/or (those girls are required to keep a 93 in each class!) I also think the narrow-focus required to excel at one thing is not necessarily a bad thing. I think there are many life lessons in pushing beyond limits and encountering what happens to you there (psychologically, socially, physically). But I think ultimately it's important to find ones passion and follow it. I think the excellence and narrow-focus should come from that, and if that passion veers into another passion, so be it, but to not have purpose or passion is not ok. And the one girl said that running gives purpose to her life... as long as her parents are also supporting them in a healthy way when things dont go "well". Of course, passion ebbs and flows, so learning how to persevere when things are hard, to experience the good feelings that come from perseverance, would be one of those life lessons. Anyway, bla bla bla. I am seriously still sad every time I think about DD1's performance at Divisionals (potential for excellence not achieved), but Dh says an experience like that is exactly why she is climbing; to gain those life lessons before a big loss really screws with her life options

Dh doesnt understand the push-yourself-till-you-throw-up philosophy either, but I think it's a metaphor for a life outlook. He and I see things differently And I think both have benefits and minuses....

A funny, semi-related story: Dh and I started keeping inspirational quotes on a white board in our kitchen when he started med-school. I think he started it. One of the quotes was "Happiness is handling responsibility well". At the time I thought it was b.s.; how was all the responsibility I had to manage making me happy! But as Ive matured (one hopes anyway) I think it is genius. The better I manage my responsibilities, from modeling good behavior for the kids to walking the dogs to exercising to studying when I dont want to etc. the happier I am. I told Dh this recently, as in, "remember that quote? It's genius. It is so right!!" and he says, "I made that one up" !!!!
Edited by sparkletruck - 1/26/13 at 5:02pm

[sparkletruck]

I want to add though that no one in the article mentioned the possible effects on the girls' endocrine systems!! Hello! What effect is this going to have on their fertility, and hormones in general, and concomitantly their bone density (estrogen helps bones absorb calcium) etc

[MelW]

Originally Posted by sparkletruck 

A funny, semi-related story: Dh and I started keeping inspirational quotes on a white board in our kitchen when he started med-school. I think he started it. One of the quotes was "Happiness is handling responsibility well". At the time I thought it was b.s.; how was all the responsibility I had to manage making me happy! But as Ive matured (one hopes anyway) I think it is genius. The better I manage my responsibilities, from modeling good behavior for the kids to walking the dogs to exercising to studying when I dont want to etc. the happier I am. I told Dh this recently, as in, "remember that quote? It's genius. It is so right!!" and he says, "I made that one up" !!!!

Ha! The problem with the happiness-responsibility link is thinking that taking on more responsibility will lead to greater happiness (such as taking two grad school classes in one semester...)

Speaking of overachieving kids, the new video of your daughter's climbing competitor keeps popping up on my FB feed. I can see how your daughter would be overwhelmed in the face of that kind of (apparently) supremely confident competition.

RR- I'm resting my shoulder after climbing yesterday. Minor aches only, but building up slowly. Hopefully I'll be ready for some circuit/strength tomorrow.

NRR- We saw the Chinese doctor today who gave me something for the cold I've been fighting all week and tweaked my daughter's herbs. He's convinced that the increase in bed wetting and accidents are actually a good sign of kidney function and detoxification. The good news is she's been off inhalers for almost two weeks and singulair for a week AND has been through a cold with minimal wheezing.

[bec]

Quickly dropping by to say that I did 13 miles yesterday. 

[Mel38]

Originally Posted by bec 

Quickly dropping by to say that I did 13 miles yesterday. 

Yowza!

How's everyone doing?

MelW, that's great news that your DD has been doing so much better with breathing despite a cold!

Sparkle, I love that quote!! Seriously, that is so true in my life. Emphasis on "handling well" as opposed to taking on more, as Mel pointed out. I need to tape that on my mirror.

RR: Running on Saturday and a bike workout on the trainer yesterday. I am dressed for a run this morning, but quite bogged down in work so hopefully I can fit that in around lunchtime.

NRR: We have a new kitten in the house, and so far, our older cat is mad as hell. I have been keeping the kitten in a separate room with her own food and litter box, but letting her venture out for a bit this morning to get the lay of the land. Older kitty literally lunged at the kitten just 15 minutes ago, so I promptly put him outdoors. Scary. I have a cat pheromone diffuser, but I don't know if that is helping. Does rescue remedy help with animals? I was kind of (naively?) thinking that they might grow to be friends

[JayGee]

bec - great job on the 13 miler!

MelW - that Chinese healer is onto something! Wonderful that your DD has not needed her asthma meds.

Mel38 - I had an old cat and brought a kitten in. They hated each other for about a week and then I found them sleeping in a big, catty pile on the sofa! It really does take time for them to get used to each other. Enjoy your new kitty.

sparkle - the hormone thing was my first thought too when I read the article. Distance running at such a young age and at such fast paces just doesn't seem good for healthy puberty. But what do I know!

RR - played more lacrosse with DS in the basement last night, slipped on the floor in my socks, and bruised my butt! Still going for a walk this morning. It's very warm out today, for January at least.

NRR - DH is talking about looking for a new job. The Air Force will likely be furloughing all civilian employees in the next 3 months. That means NO pay for as long as the furlough lasts. Honestly, I hope he gets something and we can move. I can't even tell you how many times a day the thought, "We gotta get out of here!" crosses my mind! I'd love to move further east, toward "home". We'll see what happens.

[Runningmommy]

Hi!  I'm coming up for air!!  LOL!! 

NRR: just been trying to catch my breath this week and get my feet back under me.  Things with DH are improving and I'm doing my best to forgive and move on.  Thank you so much for your support and commiseration it was really needed in my brokenness. 

I have a question re: inappropriateness in the workplace with a friend.  I normally would tell dh, but...with the current no meds/starting school/new job position, I'm hesitant to do so right now.  I do think I should tell him.  There is also the history of someone that I thought was just a  friend (was on my end, thought of him as a little brother) but dh and other people from our bible study thought he had a hidden agenda and went cray cray over it.  Turned out *that* guy DID have a hidden agenda even though I didn't see it.   Soooo....boss at work is a good friend, would do anything for our family, treats us all well, etc.  He has made a couple of comments over the last year or two that could be taken the wrong way.  In my mind, he would never do anything like that as he is a HUGE family man, LOVES his wife (they do almost everything together, lunch daily etc.)  I just laugh it off, but wondering if I should do something (what though?) about it?  It would totally ruin work/friendship/how dh sees him/other friends at work might be affected, etc.  Thoughts?  Questions? ugh!!

RR: didn't get my 3 mile run in yesterday as I"m still trying to navigate around dh's moods.  ITs okay, it was only three and I can tack some, if not all, on to today's run that I am really looking forward to.  I'm thinking that these inserts are worth the money as my foot didn't go crazy after my 12 miler on Friday.  I did have to ice it twice after running, but didn't need any ibuprofen, nor did I suffer any extra pain the next day!!  WOOT!!

[Plady]

Morning mamas,

RM - Is it inappropriate talk or touching?  If it was just talk I think I'd try to ignore it unless it was making me uncomfortable.  I definitely would hesitate to tell your dh seeing as he's been known to confuse other people's intentions with yours and he runs anxious already.  I'm sorry that you've got one more thing heaped on your plate.

Mel38 - Good luck with the kitten!  I brought in a second male kitten a few years ago and although the cats tolerate each other (mostly) they aren't exactly close - though I have caught them napping within inches of each other.  But that's two boys, I don't know how girls are.

MelW - So cool about your dd's asthma symptoms!  I love healers!

JayGee- Do you want to go all the way to NE?  Or just east of where you are?  I'll start picturing you there. :)

Sparkle - I think I have similar feelings re: uberly focused kids.  Half of me wishes that my kids had a passion for something like that and half of me is okay that they don't.  And then part of me wonders what I 'd do to help or hinder them if they did.  What if one of them was really into something they couldn't get enough of here?  Would I put my own involvements on hold to cart them around to theirs?  Would it matter if I agreed with what they liked?  Anyway, it was an interesting story.

RR: I'm still feeling like I could either finally get better or actually get worse so I've been basically a slug all weekend.  Today the kids don't have school, C is on a trip to Seattle but I've got Ali G and work.  I've also got an u/s to check for gallstones in an hour.  I'm not enjoying the being up but unable to drink coffee (or even water) and I'm a little anxious about what the results might be.  Fingers crossed that there's nothing to see.
 

[mommajb]

Sparkle - I think I have similar feelings re: uberly focused kids.  Half of me wishes that my kids had a passion for something like that and half of me is okay that they don't.  And then part of me wonders what I 'd do to help or hinder them if they did.  What if one of them was really into something they couldn't get enough of here?  Would I put my own involvements on hold to cart them around to theirs?  Would it matter if I agreed with what they liked?  Anyway, it was an interesting story. 

This.

I too feel like I am coming up for air or getting my feet back under me. I wish I had a reason for the overwhelmed feeling. Just life I suppose. I am glad for all the dingos that are doing better and hope this is a good week for all.


Hmm, maybe I should do some yoga. I want to feel good but I am having trouble motivating myself off my rear. As an aside, I was tallying miles for the month/year and thought if my goal was continuous improvement this year at least I haven't set the bar too high this month.

[sparkletruck]

Originally Posted by MelW 

Speaking of overachieving kids, the new video of your daughter's climbing competitor keeps popping up on my FB feed. I can see how your daughter would be overwhelmed in the face of that kind of (apparently) supremely confident competition.

Do you mean Ashima? Yeah, she triggers inner turmoil for me I'm reluctant to admit that I do wish DD1 had the fire some of these competitive kids have, mostly I think, because she has potential in that area (athletics). I never, for example, yearn for her to be more ambitious about her art projects, 'cause there's not a lot of potential there But I hate seeing her be ambivalent about something that she could really kick butt at. I do believe that temperament is inborn, and there's only so much I can do to nudge, support, direct, etc., which is mostly turning into "let's look at the choices that you could make here and be aware of the possible outcomes of each" before I let her make a choice THAT KILLS ME INSIDE She is such an introvert, and so fearful of failure that she just doesnt put herself out there unless she knows she can succeed. Le sigh. Anyway, I'm reeaaalllly trying to see her for who she is and honor that and help her make her way along HER path (it's not mine, it's not mine, she's not me....) but I cringe at all the difficulties she sets up for herself that, if she's just listen to me, she could avoid!!

NRR: In hormone-slump-land. yuck

[Realrellim]

Plady--your story about not knowing what a syllabus was had me cracking up. Awesome.

kerc--glad to hear about the math club and math acceleration there. And yay for some swimming!

mommajb--I agree about reality. And I agree with your perception about high school AP teachers demanding excellence, whereas that may not be true at a CC or even a university. Even at the university, the prof may not be demanding the same level of excellence because either it's too large of a class, or because it's a gen-ed class for non-majors and we tend to set the standards lower. That sound bad, but I'm thinking of what I expect from music majors in an intro music lit class vs what I expected from my gen-ed music appreciation students. I have different expectations for them in terms of knowledge, and possibly also because the majors will continue to be around for the next three years.

RM: I wouldn't tell your DH about the one situation, perhaps not ever. My question for you is: what will telling him accomplish? If it will make you feel better, consider what might happen if he doesn't react in supportive ways. Ideally yes, you could tell him, but it might be better for all around if you talk about it with someone else supportive. As far as the guy at work, keep an eye on the situation and perhaps talk with some other co-workers. Maybe he just thinks he's funny or clever or likes to flirt but that's really and truly the end of it. If it is a threat though, or if it's making you uncomfortable, that's a different story completely.

Science Dingos: R wants to do a science fair project involving rocks and minerals. She can do an experiment involving the scientific method, or do an observation (basically an experiment with the scientific method, except with a known outcome). She likes crystals and would like to grow some. Do you have suggestions?

RR: ran the Yeti Chase 10K yesterday in 54:13. Hopefully a race report will follow tonight.

[MelW]

Originally Posted by sparkletruck 

Do you mean Ashima? Yeah, she triggers inner turmoil for me

I had my climbing phenoms confused. It's Brooke in the video I saw.

JayGee, fingers crossed for a positive move for you.

bec, way to go on the mileage!!

I just cut today's to do list in half. When the three year old asks "Are you feeling rushed, mum? Because you're not treating me the way I want to be treated." it's time to slow down. Fiddle lesson and post office trip aside, we're homeschooling (gasp) *from home* today. Novel idea... The kids have requesting some baking time this afternoon, we made Valentine cards and my oldest is ploughing through her math intent on finishing grade 2 math today.

[sparkletruck]

Originally Posted by MelW 

I had my climbing phenoms confused. It's Brooke in the video I saw.

That is such a great video to show you all what I mean as far as how over-the-top some of these climbers are. How do you compete with that!. Yeah, Brooke is on the Boulder team, and her mom is the head coach of the Boulder team, and the whole team is like that: excellent. Brooke actually aged into the next category this year (she's a year older than DD1) so DD1 doesnt compete against her, but will again next year. Ashima actually beats Brooke every year at Nationals, but Ashima is based in NY so folks in the SW dont compete against her except at Nationals .... I know, this is way more about a niche activity than you all care to hear about

[MelW]

It's actually pretty interesting to me, as is the conversation about to what degree parents might/do accommodate their kid's passions and talents. I have a 3 year old who seems to be a naturally gifted climber (top of the wall!) with grace and an intuitive way of scaling the wall. Right now we're happily climbing once or twice a week on our little wall. But if she got serious? I'm not sure that I would drive the 40 minutes to the nearest gym, or 1-3 hours to the nearest decent coach. Same goes for my oldest and her violin- if she stays serious about it the closest music academy/rigorous teacher is over an hour away. Luckily we have a few years before these questions really arise, and I'm more likely to encourage the kids to branch out within our communities (such as the fiddle groups) rather than seek out top tier performance. I see some of this as a rural/urban life choice.

Plady- I hope the gallbladder scan went well. I read an interesting paleo article recently about gallbladder and gluten sensitivity links. http://paleoparents.com/featured/the-link-between-gallbladder-disease-and-gluten-sensitivity/