Running is Child’s Play!

It was late afternoon, around 4:30…that magical time of day when I can look back at the day’s events with a sense of accomplishment (as my dad used to say, “made another one!”) as my kids have had adequate learning, playing, resting, social and alone time, have been fed two square meals and one or two snacks, the house is fairly clean, dinner is in the works and nothing is broken.  And, of course, their dad will be home in no more than an hour.  The kids will be overjoyed and distracted from their current sibling squabble, I will have someone to talk to, or more importantly, someone to share parenting duties with until they are happily sound asleep at 8:00.

So, after all of the activities of the day, you’d think the kids would be worn out….as I certainly am.  Not so, my friends.  As I’m preparing dinner, they have that end-of-day burst of energy, and are tearing around my kitchen chasing each other.  While most parents at this point would resort to the all-too-often-shouted demand, “Stop Running!”, I suddenly have a great idea.

Dinner is prepped and can be finished shortly before we are ready to sit down.  Why not take that energy outside, let them get those wiggles out, and enjoy some fun play-time with my kids?  I could use a little exercise myself, as today was a non-workout day, and I am feeling the need for fresh air and a way to escape the myriad responsibilities of homelife.

We are lucky to live right next door to a beautiful private school, whose campus includes lush green grassy athletic fields.  My daughter has recently shown an interest in running with me, and although she is only four, I sometimes think, why not go for a short jog for as long as she can keep up?  My 2-year-old is full of energy and could use the opportunity to wear himself out as well, and I realize the athletic fields provide a perfectly safe, wide-open arena for my family’s need for speed.

So we all put on our sweats and sneakers and head out the door.  Once we climb the hill to the school’s main building, my daughter is delighted to run right back down.  Walking up again, albeit much more slowly the second time, we meet at the top and glance down at our house.  (It’s always so gratifying to look at our home from this hilltop view, I’m not sure why…?)

Making our way over to the athletic fields, I’m grateful no one is using them at the moment.   Spotting the newly painted, crisp white lines on the soccer field, I suddenly realize how easy and fun this will be.

“Run along this line and don’t stop until you get to the end! GO!”   And so they do, running at full speed along the sideline of the soccer field.  My daughter makes it to the end, and proudly high-fives me as she crosses the corner mark.  My son is jogging along, half laughing, half struggling, to keep his short legs up with his racing mind as he tries to follow his sister in everything she does.

Once we catch our breath from the initial sprint, my daughter suggests we keep going along the back line, and this time, she wants to play follow the leader.  She leads us across the field by following each white boundary line, sometimes crossing the penalty box and other times looping back behind the goal.  Where she will go, no one knows, but we must keep up with her as part of the game.  Next it is my turn, and I do my best to keep them guessing where our next turn will be.  My son strays from the lines and crisscrosses each plane we are carefully outlining.   It doesn’t seem to bother my daughter, as she is diligently focused on beating her old mom at this impromptu running race.

On the walk back home that evening, I reflected on how fun it was to get out and get some exercise with my kids, as part of our playtime.  For me, workouts are just as much about a mental break as they are about physical fitness.  But on this afternoon, I witnessed my kids running for the pure joy of it.  No distance goals, no stopwatches, no iPods.  Just running, laughing and enjoying life.

I hope that by encouraging physical activities and including them as part of our play, my kids will not grow up to dread exercise.  This very simple and quick activity (we were home in under 30 minutes) was a boredom buster, cost nothing, got us out of the house and brought us together in a simple game of “Follow the Leader.”  Not only will we return to the fields for more, but I will remember the joy and exhileration that running gave my kids, just as it does for me when I go out alone.

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