There is an annual jog-a-thon at Brandon and Mia’s school.
This event is the biggest fundraiser, and I have always attended, but mainly as
a sideline spectator. This year, I volunteered
to help the classrooms. Mia’s class was
overwhelmed with volunteers, and Brandon’s class was in need so Lance and I
assisted this year in tallying up the kids’ laps, giving water, and leading
them in the warm up. It is such a little
thing, but I just LOVED leading the warm up exercises. All the kids followed me, including some of
the other parents and teachers. It made
me even more aware that my real calling in life should have been a kinesiology major. Lance even said he loved being around the kids and he even questioned if he should have been a teacher instead.
I am fiercely competitive. When I learned there was a medal
for the top boy and girl runner in each class, I began giving my motivational
speech to Mia and Brandon. I would not
have pushed them so much if I did not believe they both had potential to
receive this honor. Brandon and Mia are
AMAZING runners. They always beat their
teammates during running excercises in softball and baseball. So, the poor kids had to listen to their
crazy mom…Mia ran in a smaller lap designed for the younger children and though
I was volunteering for Brandon’s class, I would run over to Mia’s track to give
her encouragement as well. The end
result was Brandon tied for first place, completing 22 laps. In my estimation, 22 laps is probably a
little over 4 miles. According to Mia’s
tally sheet, she ran 25 laps. The girl
who received the top honor ran 26 laps.
When Mia came home from school, she gave me her tally sheet, and I (nut
job that I am) recounted the marks and I quickly learned that they miscounted
Mia’s tallies. She had 26 laps as well,
which means she should have received a medal as well. No point in disputing it, because I would just sound like an even more nut job so I just let it go and told Mia that I would take her out for a special award.
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| Mia's 1st Grade Class |
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Mia's class about to start   Brandon with his classmates. The girl with the pink shorts next to him won for most laps by a girl in his class. |
I took the kids to Target to get a small reward. Both of them pushed themselves. I would mutter, “Dig deep. You can do this. You got this…don’t give up…” or “It looks
like Dean is a quarter of a lap ahead of you….you can do this…” I believed in them, and well, they did absolutely amazing. Brandon has a natural competitive drive. They both are superbe athletes. Am I too competitive? Am I teaching them that it is all about winning? I dont believe it is all about winning, but I do believe you have to be aggressive and give everything your all. You have to hussle. My dad taught me that. You have to have that drive to do the BEST you can do....and I hope that is what I'm teaching them. Ok, ok, ok....so Brandon reminded me that I said, "your friend won't be standing up there with you next year...." Brandon knew I was joking or was I not?
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