I really wish I could place pictures in the body of my posts, I really do. I've complained to the creators of this app probably a dozen or so times, but they don't seem to care. The picture at the bottom of this post is what stirred up these thoughts.
My drink of choice is water. It's all I've drank for the past... 10 or 11 years now. I'll occasionally have a glass of juice or some kombucha or a home made smoothie. But if I'm eating food, 99.99% of the time is washed down with water. Even when I'm not eating I still drink water.
Unless there's alcohol involved. All bets are off then.
But my kids have only ever seen me drinking water. Daddy doesn't order a soda or a sweet tea at dinner. And I damn sure don't order a beer, yuck!
My astute son had picked up on this, and the fact that daddy is a decent runner (good in his mind, and that's fine for now) and had decided that water makes you fast and tea and Dr. Pepper (the only soda he knows) makes you slow. So he only drinks water now!
This made a pretty profound impact on me. Growing up I didn't have a good example of how I should eat. My dad would get off work and 3 or 4 Miller Lites down before he ever got home, then he would eat whatever it was that mom had cooked that night and wash it down with a few more beers while going back for seconds and or thirds. So naturally I thought that the right way to eat was to eat everything in sight, regardless of what it was. So that's what I've spent most of my life doing. Eating everything I can get my hands on.
That's not good.
I need to not only eat the right food (something I've been working on the last 2 or 3 years) but also eat the right quantities. I want to set a good example for my kids in every way I can. My wife and I have them riding their bikes while I run and my wife rides along with them. We all really enjoy it.
I really want my kids to experience the true joy and pleasure of running. It's something that I have always enjoyed. Yet, at the same time, I don't want to push anything on them.
They need to discover the love of things on their own.
All I can do is continue trying to be a better example for them.
