Everybody’s sense of history datum point begins with their own origin. Whoaaaaa! I just wrote that…but heck, am barely smart enough to know what it means…Let me break it down like this.
My wife and I were telling our kids, who sometimes struggle to think of our lives before they were born, that their mom and dad were once cool and hip…and had a life together B.C…..Before Children. That’s right…our Saturdays were planned to what ballgames were on T.V…or what sales were going on at Macy’s….long before planning on how were we going to get 2 kids to 2 ballgames simultaneously or if Macy had to go sale Girl Scout Cookies. The house stayed perpetually clean…and eating out without ordering Chicken nuggets was normal. You actually had some free time to catch up with the latest Newsweek or in my wife’s case, Goodhouse Keeping…which by the way now seems like a moot point since there wasn’t much “house keeping” to really do. We had duel incomes…did what we wanted, when we wanted…and really…WOW…what did we do with all that time…I can’t remember….I do know I could knock out a 500 page novel in a week…and didn’t know what “sippy cup” was.
Oh those days…
Luke was sleeping through the night at about 5 weeks…and not till he learned to crawl was there really much trouble he could get into…that seemed like a month ago…he is now 9…more worried about base runners stealing 2nd than learning multiplication tables.
Macy was always trying to keep up with big brother since she could walk…that was 3 weeks ago…she is now 7…reading like a monster, dancing…hitting about 0.678 on her softball team.
And…
Hope…she is now 4…thought she would never learn to talk…in the last 6 months she hasn’t hushed…the happiest kid more interested in making you laugh than anything else…always go for the laugh…always…and then smile big letting them know your cute.
Why am I writing such nonsense…well it came up in a conversation with some of my ultra running buddies the balance of family, training and other stuff.
Free time is no longer a luxury…last night at 9:00, we were finishing up school work after a baseball game…trying to get Hope bathed…making sure Macy brushed her teeth…and Luke telling us how the posters he was working on would help him in his campaign for student council….
I need more time in the day…and more money for that matter…and so I have to admit there are frustrations. My wife sometimes calls our 3 rug rats “Heavenly Sandpaper.” Great description…Somehow God has saw fit to bless them with Bren and I as mom an dad…which raises the eyebrow of many…especially after looking at me as a Dad. With all the joys of having kids…well, it’s all not a gravy train with biscuit wheels.
I was lamenting the fact to a blog buddy last month that a race I really wanted to run fell smack dap in the middle of one of my children’s events…something they were really looking forward too…I was so disappointed…not to be able to run the race…and worse felt like a bad dad for even being disappointed. They wrote back...something like…”No, it’s natural to be disappointed…and that doesn’t make you a bad dad…but running the race and missing the event…well that’s a bad dad.” I need people like that in my life…it helps me keep perspective.
It seems that there is always a balance…training time…money for racing fees, equipment…whatever. People will say, “Dave you are hardcore…you run all night long.” Ok…here is the secret…I would rather not run all night…but sometimes that is the best I can do without impinging on the family schedule…take off at 11:00PM on Friday night and running to 5:00AM on Saturday morning…and still making it to a baseball game by 8:00…There you go…the cat’s outta the bag…that’s why…and some other things but that is for a different blog for a different time.
My list of races I want to run is so long that I may have to live to be 200 to get it all done. But for now God has seen fit to give me 3 beautiful kids. Parenthood is not for the weak and timid…there is nothing worst than watching your kid go through a really bad disappointment…or helping them through a life lesson that is tough to stomach. Sometimes there is some big time frustrations….how many times do I have to tell Luke to pick up his shoes and if I step on one more Lego barefoot…well…you know…I have a lot of races to run…to train for…but…
One day, there will be no Legos to pick up…and the laundry loads will be a lot smaller. There will be no fingerprints 3 foot up the wall to wipe up…and the milk won’t be left out…with remnants of cereal to be swept up off the floor. In about 2 weeks…or so it will seem…we will have 3 “guest” bedrooms…the house will be quite…my race schedule will be full, uninhibited…and I won’t run all night long to in order to coach a 8:00 AM game.
The photos on the walls will speak of good times past…and those “times” I will miss terribly….even though they now may not seem so as much…and so I Run On…ok…guys who put this Lego in my running shoe?!?!
Oh those days…
Luke was sleeping through the night at about 5 weeks…and not till he learned to crawl was there really much trouble he could get into…that seemed like a month ago…he is now 9…more worried about base runners stealing 2nd than learning multiplication tables.
Macy was always trying to keep up with big brother since she could walk…that was 3 weeks ago…she is now 7…reading like a monster, dancing…hitting about 0.678 on her softball team.
And…
Hope…she is now 4…thought she would never learn to talk…in the last 6 months she hasn’t hushed…the happiest kid more interested in making you laugh than anything else…always go for the laugh…always…and then smile big letting them know your cute.
Why am I writing such nonsense…well it came up in a conversation with some of my ultra running buddies the balance of family, training and other stuff.
Free time is no longer a luxury…last night at 9:00, we were finishing up school work after a baseball game…trying to get Hope bathed…making sure Macy brushed her teeth…and Luke telling us how the posters he was working on would help him in his campaign for student council….
I need more time in the day…and more money for that matter…and so I have to admit there are frustrations. My wife sometimes calls our 3 rug rats “Heavenly Sandpaper.” Great description…Somehow God has saw fit to bless them with Bren and I as mom an dad…which raises the eyebrow of many…especially after looking at me as a Dad. With all the joys of having kids…well, it’s all not a gravy train with biscuit wheels.
I was lamenting the fact to a blog buddy last month that a race I really wanted to run fell smack dap in the middle of one of my children’s events…something they were really looking forward too…I was so disappointed…not to be able to run the race…and worse felt like a bad dad for even being disappointed. They wrote back...something like…”No, it’s natural to be disappointed…and that doesn’t make you a bad dad…but running the race and missing the event…well that’s a bad dad.” I need people like that in my life…it helps me keep perspective.
It seems that there is always a balance…training time…money for racing fees, equipment…whatever. People will say, “Dave you are hardcore…you run all night long.” Ok…here is the secret…I would rather not run all night…but sometimes that is the best I can do without impinging on the family schedule…take off at 11:00PM on Friday night and running to 5:00AM on Saturday morning…and still making it to a baseball game by 8:00…There you go…the cat’s outta the bag…that’s why…and some other things but that is for a different blog for a different time.
My list of races I want to run is so long that I may have to live to be 200 to get it all done. But for now God has seen fit to give me 3 beautiful kids. Parenthood is not for the weak and timid…there is nothing worst than watching your kid go through a really bad disappointment…or helping them through a life lesson that is tough to stomach. Sometimes there is some big time frustrations….how many times do I have to tell Luke to pick up his shoes and if I step on one more Lego barefoot…well…you know…I have a lot of races to run…to train for…but…
One day, there will be no Legos to pick up…and the laundry loads will be a lot smaller. There will be no fingerprints 3 foot up the wall to wipe up…and the milk won’t be left out…with remnants of cereal to be swept up off the floor. In about 2 weeks…or so it will seem…we will have 3 “guest” bedrooms…the house will be quite…my race schedule will be full, uninhibited…and I won’t run all night long to in order to coach a 8:00 AM game.
The photos on the walls will speak of good times past…and those “times” I will miss terribly….even though they now may not seem so as much…and so I Run On…ok…guys who put this Lego in my running shoe?!?!
7 comments:
This is very insightful and interesting, I see what the future entails, and it will be the best days of my life
Just starting that adventure - I'm not running all night, just yet - but I'm not sleeping all night, either.
Thanks, buddy:) Yep, keep em close while you can, before you know it, boyfriends and girlfriends will rule their little world.
Good stuff. Life is all about choices. Just prior my son being born, I was deep into the Ironman world and fitness reached new heights...and then I left the sport. My wife cried. I was 100% accepting of it. I knew I personally could not do the Ironman training that would make me happy and also be any type of father. Some can make it work, I didn't want to go there. I have crazy passion for ultra endurance sports so I went to the single sport of ultrarunning. It's been great! The ultra-buzz, father, husband. There are still challenges but definitely more manageable than if I was juggling three sports. No regrets.
tell me about it... I am faced with the fact that our youngest will be leaving our nest in a matter of 2 short years. SAD ;(
Cherish the time and train hard. You balance the best you can!
...In about 2 weeks…or so it will seem…we will have 3 “guest” bedrooms…the house will be quiet…
...and I'll be rushing off to St. Paul to see my newest grandson being born, torn because I'm leaving the two year old granddaughter and the two-week old grandson behind here in TX...
Yes, keep telling yourself it'll get easier/better... heh!
Oh yes... I feel your pain.
I am a single mother of two and have to squeeze in training where I can as well. I'm usually riding the bike trainer or running on a treadmill at 11:00 at night. Its is definitely not the same as with my single/no kids (or even married with kids) friends who can get out and train more often.
I've given up, for now, on training for any big events. I will continue cycling, running, swimming and yoga when I can. However, the stress of wondering if I've put in enough training because I have two little girls who need me more?? Yeah, that I can do without.
Good luck. It sounds like you're a wonderful dad.
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