It was His Idea!

On my way home from work this afternoon I made up my mind to go to either my Praise Moves or Zumba class.  I had left work on time so there was plenty of time to make dinner for my family before hopping back in the car.

When I walked in the front door, I found my son sitting at his desk finishing his homework.  He'd been hard at work since he got home from school, he said, which had been nearly two hours before my arrival.  As I was putting dinner in the oven, he came out of his room and plopped down on the couch.  He grabbed his video game controller and fired up a game of football.

If I leave, I thought, he is going to sit here all night playing game after game until he heads to bed.

"Hey J," I called into the Family Room.  "Want to go out and catch ball after we eat?"

"Sure Mom!"

After dinner we went outside to toss the football.

"Want to try one of the reps we did at my Muscle Monday class?"

Eye rolling.

"Come on.  It will be fun!" I said walking to edge of the backyard.  He reluctantly followed me.

"We'll do three burpees and then lunge walk to the other side of the yard.  Three burpees and lunge walk back.  We'll do that twice.  Go!"

We finished our reps and returned to tossing the football while chatting.

"Want to try one of the warm-ups from my tennis camp?"  my son asked out of the blue.

My inner response: Are you kidding?!?!?  YES!!  I'd LOVE to!!  Let's go!!  Whoop!  Whoop!  {jumping up and down while rapidly clapping}

My outer response: Sure.

"Run down and back across the yard.  Do three push-ups.  Run down and back.  Two push-ups.  Run down and back.  One push-up.  Run down and back."

After completing the warm-up and catching our breath, we returned to tossing the football.

Walking to the far side of our yard, my son spoke up again.  "Let's try this.  If I get the football into the hoop, we head inside.  If I miss, we do another one of your reps."

Sounded good to me!  It was a crazy shot that I didn't think he would make . . . ever!

He missed his first shot.
We did 10 squats and one suicide.

He missed his second shot.
We did 12 split squats per leg and 12 calf raises.

He missed his third shot.
We ran another suicide.

He missed his fourth shot.
We did a 30-second plank.

He made his fifth shot!

We headed inside - sweaty, covered in grass and laughing!  What made the night so great for me was that even though I  got the ball rolling, my son ran with it.  It was his idea to keep going with the reps and to add in the crazy football hoop throw.

This is one of those nights for me to reflect back on when I think that my desire for our family be healthy is falling on deaf ears.  When I'm feeling frustrated that change is not happening fast enough.  A moment in time to acknowledge that my kids are listening and grasping the concept that being active is fun and not a chore.  My plan is working!

Photo Credit - Ellie Jenkins

 

Stopping to Smell the Roses . . . or in this case the Teenage Boy Smell

This afternoon I was leaning against a rusty fence standing in the wet grass wearing my dress pants and dress shoes as a heavy wind whipped my hair across my face sending chills through my bones while I watched my son throw shot put for his junior high track team.  Suddenly it hit me . . . I'm standing here watching my son throw shot put for his junior high track team!!!!

Pre-Throw Pep Talk from the Coach.
My son is the kid in the purple sweatshirt.



One of my biggest insecurities in life is that I will not be a good parent.  I want my kids to grow up to love the Lord, have a happy family, enjoy being physically active more than they enjoy laying on the couch and maintain a little bit of silliness.  My prayer is that they work hard while constantly setting goals for themselves and that they are willing to try new things every once in a while.  I worry constantly that they won't see the example I am trying so hard to be for them with my own life.  I am so afraid that my mistakes and wrong choices will out-weigh my good ones in their minds.

JJ making his first throw of the Meet.



I realized today as I stood by that fence that JJ is seeing me.  Up until a few weeks ago he had never thrown shot put.  I don't even know if he had ever thought about the shot put.  He was coming off an incredible basketball season that had lasted over five months.  In the past, he's looked forward to being able to come straight home after school, dive on the couch and pick-up his video game controller.  This year was different.  JJ wanted to continue the daily workouts he was getting with basketball practice.  He wanted to continue to develop the newly visible muscles popping out on his legs and arms.  He wanted to continue hanging out with his friends and not coming home to hang out in his room.  Who cares if he had no idea exactly what he's doing on that field?  JJ wanted to have fun and keep active.  That's what I've been trying to drill into his brain for the past several years.  Somehow . . . even when I didn't realize it or think it was possible . . . he heard me! 



Life moves fast.  I go from work to home to activity to cooking to budgeting to driving to organizing to cleaning to . . . my mind is either buried in my To Do List or clouded with worry about the future. Today I realized that while I am constantly encouraging my children and telling them how proud I am of them, I need to stop and truly be in the moment.  I need to give myself the gift of celebrating the reality that I am a good parent.  My children are seeing the example that I am working so hard to be for them.  As the classic saying goes - I need to stop and smell the roses.  Or in this case the wet grass and teenage boy smell . . . two of the sweetest scents I know!