Unsportsmanlike Conduct

Just got home from my 3rd annual Fishers Freedom Festival 5K.

Hadn't really wanted to do it this year.  Had seriously thought about skipping it after the ups and downs of the past week.

But then Christy went and picked up my packet for me.

And then Carol texted me to ask if I wanted to do the event together.

So I went.

Carol has been training off and on- certainly more than I have.  She's a penguin like me- slow but steady.  Her endurance is definitely better than mine.  We walked 5 minutes and then started jogging.  Saw my family so I walked so I could gather hugs and cheers from the kids.  Ran to catch up and realized that I could walk Carol's jog speed.

It was perfect.  Had I walked on my own, I would have easily slowed to a stroll.  But because Carol was jogging, I had to keep my walking speed up.

After we crossed the finish line (ran to it, yahoo), I headed to the baseball field to meet up with Jeff and the kids for their fun run events.  The event was far more organized this year.  They had the outside of the field roped off and distance very set.  The 3 and under crowd ran the distance from home to first.  Short and sweet.  The 4-6 crowd did 1 loop around the outfield area.  And the 7-9 crowd did 2 loops.  Zach wanted me to run with him and we made it about halfway around when he slowed to a walk.  He wasn't all that into it- pouted the whole time.  But he did it and got his medal.  Teagan did great- ran the first loop really strong, got halfway through the second loop and slowed to a walk but then ran strong for the last little distance to get her medal.

As we walked home, Teagan suddenly began to criticize Zach for not wanting to run and for walking.  We reminded her that when she did the fun run last year, she cried, too.  We reminded her that it was a FUN run and that what mattered was getting out there and doing it.  A few minutes go by and she announces that Zach basically failed because he didn't run.  "It's a fun RUN, not a fun WALK."  And the snotty attitude was on strong.

So we stripped her of her medal and balloon.  She huffed off down the sidewalk.  Jeff gave her a minute and then went to talk with her.  I ambled along with Zach.

It wasn't until we got home and I had showered that her attitude finally adjusted.

Now we have to figure out how she can earn her medal back.  Any ideas?

End of day report: I didn't tell her what needed to happen.  I told her that Zach requested an apology but I didn't want her to give it until she really felt sorry for having said things that hurt her brother's feelings.  She gave him a beautiful apology and he sweetly accepted it.  I told her I needed to figure out how she could earn her medal back, we talked about "unsportsmanlike conduct."  And this evening, I gave it back.  Throughout the day today, with no prompting, she asked Zach to run with her down our neighborhood sidewalk, she "swam laps" with him in the wade pool at the YMCA, and her attitude was cooperative and helpful throughout the day.