The Athlete

Every member of a family plays a role.  In Kim's family, she is the baby.  In my family, I am the talker.  In our family, Madison is the athlete, McKenzie is the sensitive gymnast, and Morgan is uh ... the Morganator.  Much to our surprise, Madison announced over the weekend that for the first time in her grade school career, she did not want to join the running club.  What?  We were shocked. 

Madison is a fantastic runner with tremendous lower body strength.  She is fast - super fast.  I remember her yearbook from the 1st grade was filled with notes from friends about her speed and agility as a runner.  Okay, first graders don't really use terms like speed and/or agility,  but let's just say there are a lot of "You're a good runner" messages throughout the book.  Maddie was thrilled to join the running club in kindergarten and anxiously awaited the announcement about running club in the first grade.  So what happened in the second grade? Why didn't she want to join?

Please keep in mind that I am a mother and raised by a recovering Catholic, which means I naturally feel guilty about most situations.  So when Madison says she doesn't want to join running club, I immediately think it has something to do with me and my body/food issues.  Maddie is definitely the health fanatic in the family as well, bringing home very strong advice and opinions on food and exercise from her beloved PE coaches.  God knows I need to listen to the advise and I have reached a place in my life where I can accept the input from my baby about an incredibly personal, often painful, issue in my life.  So what if the second grade is the year Madison becomes body conscious and no longer wants to be the athlete?  What if the second grade is the year Madison begins to gain weight?  What if the second grade is the year Madison inherits my painful food/body/weight issues?

So what would Dr. Steve say in this situation?  Dr. Steve would say parents have to show their children have to walk through the door.  And this is what I did.  I called one of the PE coaches yesterday to share with her Madison's hesitancy to join the running club.  Her coach was just as surprised as we were and offered to seek Maddie out during the day to encourage her to join.  Apparently, this worked because Madison and McKenzie attended the first running club yesterday.  McKenzie made it around the track 11 times and Madison completed 7 laps!  They smelled awful when they came home, but both had a wonderful time.  We were thrilled!

I also decided showing Madison how to walk through the door, or how to honor her body, meant I needed to walk the children to school this morning, which I did.  Actually, the girls ran and I walked.  Don't worry Maddie says she still loves me even though I don't run as fast as they do.  She also suggested I take a few laps around the track when they went into the school.  "It is very good exercise, Mommy, and you might grow a little taller too."  God bless her.

I would do anything for my children.  And today it occurred to me as I huffed my way home from the school alone, I may just learn to take care of myself for the love of my girls.