Daily Chatter

Friday, September 7, 2012

Flashback Friday - Behind the Jogger Edition

Who remembers this?
 
Milk's the soft soft drink doesn't burn, foam or fizzle
doesn't snap doesn't sizzle
if you wanna wet your whistle
drink the soft soft drink
that's good for ya' it'll make your whole insides say thanks
thanks!
makes your teeth grow stronger
starts a belly celebration
and a muscle jubilation
people all across the nation
drink the soft soft drink. 
for vitamin sensation
drink the soft soft drink
drink milk.
 
Speaking of remembering things,  I can remember when jogging stroller runs seemed a lot easier.  I think all those treadmill miles this winter really made a difference in my ability to suck it up.  I mean it's hard to run 10 miles on the treadmill while watching beautiful young people decide between becoming werewolves or vampires.  But pushing a now 4 year old up hills and down in VA heat is completely another kind of hard. 
 
 
Not only is all this jogging stroller running hard for me, it is also hard for my jogging stroller companion.  LBM is the best little running companion of my three kids.  He is most always happy to go for a "joggie."  Knowing that he is typically enjoying his time too helps make the miles a little easier.  But there are the days when things are not so mutually enjoyable.  During those days it's good to have a few tricks up my sleeves to keep LBM happy.
 
A few tricks that work for my 4 year old:
 
 Make sure you have a special snack.  I always take along something that I have made or purchased that LBM doesn't yet know we have.  When I don't have anything special I will add a few M&Ms to his little bag of crackers as a surprise.
 
Have fun.  This includes a lot of tricks.  If it's hot, take squirt guns.  And let your rider actually squirt you.  Sing together - out loud.  Let your rider choose your course.  Always putting safety first, of course.  Plan your run to include a pause at the park.  Or reward your rider with a park visit after. 
 
A secret toy.  Okay sometimes you have to pull out the stops and reduce yourself to a little bribery.  When LBM isn't so excited about our "joggie" I pull out the toys.  Usually I try to keep them something small that requires him to use his imagination to play with.  Action figures and dinosaurs often work great.  But when runs go long I pull out the electronics too.
 
Make it a treasure hunt.   Yes I admit it.  We pick up trash.  The kind you throw away on days when I am out for "time on my feet" or just taking a walk.  And we also pick up those little "treasures" that we find along the way.  Lately a "cool" find was a large orange reflector.  LBM still takes it on runs and pretends it is all kinds of things.
 
Make it seem special.  It's not secret that I am a little in love with all things nature.  So this is a given technique.  We take photos of the critters and flowers and sometimes, even rocks we see along the way.  Often we set a goal of seeing X number of critters or we count how many butterflies or woolly worms or red rocks we can see and don't turn around until we hit that number.  It doesn't take much to make every run feel like a special event that they "get" to share with you. 
 

 
There are times you don't have to do anything.  Something special just happens. 
All you have to do is be ready for it.
  


6 comments:

  1. I couldn't imagine going as far as you do with a jogging stroller. My kids' max seems to be about 3-4 miles.

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  2. Love this post! I think the growing child adds some difficulty but yep, that 4-year old mind is quite determined. I think I have become a bit of a jogging stroller "sissy" recently but my last one I ended up picking flowers along the way and handing them off to darling daughter. And then at the end when her patience was really being tried, I told her she could feed the birds some of her leftover cracker crumbs. She was shocked I was going to let her do so and that gave me a whole 5 minutes! I also pack toys, put her in charge of my water bottle, and give her little bottles of bubbles to blow along the way. And we always end with her choosing which park she wants to play with afterwards! And recently have added in a special lunch date with mommy.

    Great job on the 10 miles. You have proven to me it is doable and so I need to get out there and do more!

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  3. I really enjoy running alone. I dont even have a jogging stroller - but you make it seem so special to do it together! Makes me want to run out and get a jogging stroller!

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  4. I do so many of these same things! I will actually horde McDonald's happy meals toys for emergency stroller use (my kid doesn't realize her meal is supposed to have a toy, ha!) and the only time she ever gets cookies is in the stroller, so that makes her SUPER excited to. I swear she sees the stroller as a giant cookie-mobile. The only trick I have that you don't is letting her hold the dog leash. She thinks that is SO FUN, which baffles me but whatever. The dog doesn't care...much :)

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  5. I haven't pushed my kids in about a year so kudos to you! I tagged you in a blog post http://thesclub.blogspot.com/2012/09/10-running-related-personal-questions.html

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