Running into a dream come true

Running into a dream come true

I really didn’t love having newborns. I know you aren’t supposed to admit that, but it’s true. Yes, they are absolutely adorable and the baby smell still makes me wax nostalgic about the days of just watching my new baby sleep. But, from the time my children were teeny tiny, I dreamt of days when they would be a little older.

I used to have daydreams about my child, old enough to sit in the front seat and carry on a “real” conversation. I could envision him telling me about a girl that liked him at school, or a question he might have about the world and how it works. Lately, that dream has started to come true. On occasion, one of my children will find himself in that “hot” seat and open up about an issue. And it’s pure heaven to me.

Don’t get me wrong. I do not want to be friends with my children. I’m the mom, they’re the kid. But, being able to carry on a conversation, a discussion, even a debate really gets me excited. In addition, the idea of doing things with my children that I feel are meaningful, long-term events for us was something I was patiently awaiting.

And then it happened.

Last weekend on a bit of a lark, I asked my kids if they wanted to run a 5K race with me. I didn’t expect they would. I really thought they’d rather sleep in on a weekend morning. But, lo and behold, three of the kids in my house said, ‘sure’. And, we did it. We put on some warm clothes, drove downtown and joined the masses of people to run 3.2 miles for a charity.

And it was glorious.

Quite frankly, our intention was to run it together. But, the second the gun went off, they left my old, tired body in the dust. I saw their youthful selves running further and further away from me, but I knew we were all headed in the same direction and would end at the same place.

And we did. As I ran to the finish line, there were their faces, cheering me on. Our little team completed something we set out to do. Together. It was hard and I’m still paying for it two days later, but we found something, the four of us, that we could do together again and again. We celebrated our shared accomplishment. We talked about our aches and pains, together. Did we solve world hunger? No. Did we change the world? No. But did we create a great memory of sharing time together in a healthy, positive manner? Absolutely. And will we do it again? Yes. In fact, we will do it again next week, on Thanksgiving. For the annual Thanksgiving Day race. And, even better, we are adding to our team. My husband is going to do it with us too. I might not run the whole race. And I certainly won’t enjoy how much my legs hurt the next day. But at a time when our children are, more and more, running off to be with their friends, this is time we can celebrate being a family. One step at a time.

Do you have story to share?

Do you have story about a time your kids finally came around? Share it here. Just add it to the comments below.