Walk A Thon

I went back to Brandon’s school for lunch, and the kids were eating lunch in the classroom. Another mother and I were watching the kids together, while the teacher stepped out for her own lunch. The other mother has an older daughter, so she’d been to the walk a thon before. I’d already made a bright sign for Brandon, while sitting in my car. I’d asked him if he wanted a sign, and he asked me, “Um, can you just cheer? That’s what I do for your races.” I told him I’d want him to make me a sign! He said, “Oh, fine.” So I’d gotten some bright green poster board and a black marker, with some letters. I’d envisioned sitting on my lawn chair cheering him on, but the other mom said lots of parents walk. Knowing my kid, I decided it was best to walk with him to keep him safe and to keep him going, especially if other parents were there, too. So I went home after the kids’ lunch and changed my clothes. I had been wearing jeans and nicer, casual shoes, that I didn’t want to ruin if it was muddy on the field. I wore my now retired running shoes, those that aren’t run-worthy, but still in relatively good condition to just wear. So, I met Brandon after school, and the kids had already done a practice lap with their class. The event started with the classes lining up together, in reverse order, such that the kinders were last. After one lap of walking, there was a free for all. Most of the upper graders started to run. They weaved in and out of the walkers. Brandon was with his friends, but always looking around to see where I was. I’d brought him his red hat to have him stand out a bit, as they were all wearing the same shirt, which was grey. The big bunch started to spread itself out as walkers were going at different paces. I kept pushing Brandon, and by lap 3 (each lap was approximated as 1/4 miles), he was whining to have me slow down. For the kinders, there were prizes every 5 laps. For the first 5 laps, he got an otter pop, the 10th lap completed earned him an air guitar, the 15th lap earned him a free food ticket (each ticket was $1, and I’d previously purchased 10), the 20th lap earned him a trip to the VIP lounge, where there was fruit, veggies, popcorn, and lemonade (which I’d thought was water and filled up half his water bottle!), and the 25th lap was a pair of sunglasses. The theme was “Be A Walk Star” as in “rock star”, so that’s why the prizes were what they were. I’d warned him early on to conserve his energy, as he tends to sprint and then get really tired. We’ve run together before, and he is super fast at the beginning, but quickly tires. He did hold back, and walked with me at the pace I’d set for him. When we passed his 5th lap, I kept going, but he was very upset that we didn’t stop for his Otter pop. I think he was thinking they were going to run out, and being he has no delayed gratification, he wanted it NOW! So after 6, we went to pick up his prize, then got back into the laps. At this point, it was just the two of us walking together, and every now and then, we’d see one of his friends. He actually knows a lot of people that I don’t, probably from after school care, but when they’d pass us, they’d say hi to him. I think that was encouraging for him as well, since he didn’t want them to see him crying (he did when he couldn’t have his otter pop). Every so often, there was an air horn that would go off, signalling double lap rounds. For every lap completed, there were two hole punches given. We made the most of these, usually getting 2 laps, so 4 punches, in. Our joke was that it always went off when we were the farthest away from the punch zone. When the second air horn blasts, the double punch time is over. During our first double punch zone, I had to encourage him to pick up speed at the end of the lap so that it didn’t end, as it’s like “Musical Chairs”, you never know when the air horn will blast. The air horn sounded as he was in the corrals of the punch zone. Fortunately, he was in the “safe” area, and got his two punches. We kept on going, around and around, and when he whined too much for me, I dropped his hand and ran. He’d get very upset, and I told him, “If you whine, I will run ahead. If you just walk with me, and stop complaining, then I’ll stay with you.” He learned his lesson after a few short bursts of me pulling away from him, and started asking nicely for his snacks. I’d brought him a mixture of apple chips and cashews for both protein and carbs. He had water, and later lemonade water, but even with the hydration, one puncher said, “Make sure you drink water, you look like you need it!” I’d put sunblock on his face, and he’d ditched his hat after about 10 laps, since it was making him hotter. He was quite sweaty, and he’d only had his t-shirt on. I’d been preparing for rain, having his boots and slicker in the car. He paced himself on the snacks, as I told him that was all I had. Between that and the otter pop, and later, at the VIP lounge (Yes, he made it!), he got plenty of snacks. I think it did give him energy. To encourage him further, I told him after he earned his free ticket at 15 laps, that every 5 laps, I’d give him one of the tickets that I purchased, and that he could buy WHATEVER he wanted. They had typical carnival food – snow cones, nachos, the baked goods table, and cotton candy. He kept saying at each 5 lap marker that he was done. 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He quickly chose the cotton candy, and fortunately, it was sealed in a bag. I cringed a bit, but had to remind myself that he earned it. Then, he saw nachos, which was what I was planning to get. So, he wanted to buy the nachos. We each got our own serving, and went to eat it at a table. While we were eating it, I asked him if, 1) he wanted to eat the cotton candy now or 2) he wanted to wait, and go see if there’s something he’d like at the baked goods table (again, another ulterior motive, because I wanted a Bundtini). He thought about it, then said, “Either way, I’ll wait on the cotton candy.” So, I told him it would then make sense that we would go to the baked goods table. Or he could have a snow cone for waiting on the cotton candy. I’m trying to teach him more about delaying gratification. He’s the guy that would eat one cookie now instead of waiting 10 minutes for 2 cookies. No joke. So this was a big step for him. He chose a cookie, while I went for the marble. Right as we were going to sit down, the air horn blew. I told him we could hurry and get 2 punches, maybe even 4 if we hurried. I didn’t want to rush him too much, as I wanted him to enjoy his cookie and not drop it. I was eating my bundtini with a spoon, and also enjoying it. Soon, we had 32 punches! After we finished dessert, Brandon saw Rohan and his sister, Megan. Rohan had a fewer punches than Brandon, by about 3-4 if I recall. Rohan started running and said, “Brandon, come run with me!” Soon, Brandon turned it on and passed Rohan! Then Rohan slowed down, and Megan, who is younger, ran off. Rohan’s parents were not with him, so he was in charge of his sister. He asked Brandon, “Can you go run up ahead and tell my sister to come back here?” Brandon did it! Sure, he only complains with me, but if there are friends around, no problem! Dave was on his way, as he was to relieve me at 345pm, so that I could drive back over to Peyton’s school for Ms Christine’s going away party. We’d been out there since 1245pm, so I was getting tired, too. I was also hot, as I was wearing a hat to keep the sun off. Dave found us, and immediately took over. I’d given him the rundown, and my two remaining tickets to spend. He requested further clarification while I was driving over to the school. I told him that I’d pledged to give Brandon a dollar for every lap that he did. He’d wanted to go bowling with his teacher, who was offering the top two earners a trip to the lanes. He was very random, when he told us earlier in the week. He’d raised already $60 or so from my family, so if he’d get to 50 laps (he was on 36 when I left), he’d get $100 from us, as each of us would pledge $1 per lap (I volunteered Dave as well, unbeknownst to him). If he earned $175, he got a trip to go golfing. I made it to Peyton’s school with time to spare, and they were eating their normal snack at that time. They had some ice cream, and a few of Ms Christine’s favorite fruits. After we were done, Dave had texted me that he was taking Brandon to pizza. We met up with them, and my first question to Brandon was, “So, how many laps?” Dave said they had to stop a bit shy of 430pm, since there was a long line to turn in the punch cards. Brandon beamed and said, “47!” Wow. Dave said he didn’t complain at all with him. He just said that his feet hurt. I bet he will be sore tomorrow. Accounting for the double punches, and if the lap distance is accurate, he may have walked almost 10 miles! It seems inconceivable! Though, I know we did walk a lot because my feet are sore! So, we came home and added up how much he’d earned thus far – $154. So he needed $21 to get to his goal of $175. He hit up his other grandma on the phone. She was more than happy to oblige his request. He’d made it! He was complaining so much, but Dave told me that he wanted to go back and do more when they finished! This kid’s got a fire lit in him now! As he gets older, the number of laps required for prizes increases. Oh, the last thing Dave told me was that when Brandon was turning in his punch card for a lap certificated, the lady said, “Oh, you did 47 laps, great. OH, you’re a KINDERGARTENER!” He felt proud 🙂 The tiger mom in me is ashamed he didn’t meet his goal of 50 laps (Dave thought I was nuts and torturing Brandon). KIDDING! I’m super proud of this kid!