Adding the BFF Element.

@postaday 268; #postaday2011.

I know everyone thinks Kid1&2 get along famously, posing for pictures, super smiles, whispering too late at night in their beds in the dark in their room. And for the most part they do, but, add a little tired crankiness and dirty looks and the snide remarks fly. And if I’m cranky, too, look the hellas out.

As I was driving home last night I got a call from Kid2’s BFF’s momma asking me if I could take her child for a little while last night. Since I had yet to turn toward our hale, I cut right out of the left-turn lane and headed up the hill to scoop her up. I explained what we would be doing as I neared their house: We were taking Kid1 to viola lessons and then on to Triangle Park for my #5kin100days 1.2 session (week 1, session 2). BFF’s momma liked that!

Out came the kid with her backpack, a water bottle, and a ham sandwich. We went over to our house and it was a fun surprise for Kid1&2 to have BFF over. Things were instantly pleasant, as I knew would be the case. I knew the girls would now have fun. If the sisters were grumpy, having BFF around would smooth things out.

The girls got the lowdown on the workout from me and we started off with stretches. When I launched into the slow walk, I told them to fall in behind me and keep to the right as Triangle Park is frequented by other exercisers and dog walkers. I plugged in to my inadequate C25K iPhone app and heard the giggles and joy behind me. They were keeping up, but they were seeing the sights, too. The moon was a beautiful sliver of a crescent descending into Diamond Head as the sun set. Bicyclists, walkers, and runners were in the midst of their workouts. And my three girls were easily distracted by toads. They’d chase after them and examine their coloring and wait for me to come around and then fall back in. While I did seven one-minute runs between seven two-minute walks, they probably did five. And all the way home they thanked me for taking them along.

Although this program is really for me, it’s so easy I wanted to bring them along and get them up to a 5k, too. And having a BFF along seems to trigger a little more enthusiasm than being dragged to run by mom. By the time we were done, it was dark, the stars were sparkling, and we all felt satisfied with our endeavor. It was my second. It hurt a little around my knees, and my right calf whined a bit. Today I’m fine.

My girls are old enough now to participate in some of the activities I used to do alone. I used to do them to be alone. And there still are those alone activities. But it’s nice we Benderettes can do something like this together. We feel good about ourselves when we are pau, and we feel good about each other. I like it.