5Ks and Kids

I have been running 5Ks lately. Don’t ask me why, because I hate to run…But I really needed to get active again, and my friend (note that when I originally typed the word friend, I left out the “r” and it became “fiend”) Lindsay likes to run, so I am blaming her. And my friend Courtney for making me do that torturous Y-fit class.

Anyway—blame aside, I have started to run again. And it has paid off, a little anyway. But for the sake of a little muscle tone and a little less cellulite, I have put my body through the ringer. It is not easy to be enthusiastic about running when your lungs feel like they just might collapse, or your shins might split in two.

Two 5Ks down, and Lindsay is packing my spring weekend schedule with as many runs as possible. And where have the girls been during all of this running? Thank God for the YMCA and their child care center—and for Spencer, Lindsay’s husband, who is forced into watching my children so that Lindsay and I can train together (know that they do not have children, so this is like forcing a cat into a bathtub)and low and behold, he is a good babysitter.

On one Sunday that Lindsay and I went to OKC to run in the Red Bud Classic, I asked my workstudy students Michael and Jaclyn to watch the girls.

They are getting married this summer, and I figured it was my duty to give them a crash course in child crowd-control. I decided (and convinced them) that if they could survive my girls, they could survive parenthood together.

So I dropped the girls at the university at 8:30 in the morning, and turned on my heel and ran in the other direction, lest Michael and Jaclyn change their minds. And so, while I made a 7 hour round trip to be tortured by asthma and shin splints, my girls had a fabulous time.

Michael and Jacklyn took them to church (to the church that both my current boss, former boss, and half the university attend—I had visions of them jumping over pews and throwing spit wads). Apparently, they were so in awe of Michael and Jaclyn, they were perfect angels. “Statues” as my friend told me. My baby Jacklyn even fell asleep.

After church, they took the girls to Burger King, let them eat and play, and then took them back to Jaclyn’s dorm room to nap. This is the part where I became a little skeptical about their ability to control my children. Could they really get all three of the girls to nap (including my eight year old, who is “too old” to take naps)? Apparently I underestimated them. I called Jaclyn at 1:30 to make sure that they were not giving her a hard time. She assured me that they were behaving beautifully, and all three of them were sound asleep! If she had not taken these photos, I might not have believed her.

Upon waking from naps, they gave the girls snacks, and took them to play and to see the house Michael and Jaclyn have rented for their first home together after they get married in July. They played hide and seek and tag, and posed for a few (great) photos.

The couple then took them to McDonald's for dinner. (Normally I would balk at my children eating fast food twice in one day, but in this case, whatever makes them happy.) Then, they drove them all the way to my house!!!

Needless to say, the girls had a fantastic time. But I have decided that next time, I am going to send the girls to run with Lindsay, and I am going to go play with Michael and Jaclyn!