A few weeks ago I wrote about running barefoot with my eleven-year-old son, Alex, in Barefoot Run: Ratingen, Germany and the Joy of a Barefoot Child. It was an experience I'll never forget. Since then a few people have emailed asking for an update. I'm happy to oblige.
Here's the conversation we had about running this weekend:
Me: “Alex, we haven't run together in a while. Why don't we go for a few kilometers today?”
Alex: “Dad, it's snowing.”
Me: “What's the big deal? You guys love playing in the snow.”
Alex: “Have you seen my nerf gun? I can't find it.”
Me: “Haven't seen it. So do you want to run or not?”
Alex: “You gotta see the new YouTube video of the Long Shot nerf gun. That thing is awesome!”
Me: “Hellllooo! We're talking about running here. Are we going?”
Alex: “Dad, only morons run in snow.”
Me: “No, only dads and sons with strong, warm, muscular feet from barefoot running.”
Alex: “God you're weird. And stop showing your barefeet to my friends when they come over. It's gross and you're freaking them out.”
Me: “Can't a man be proud of how his feet are developing?”
Alex: “Did you know you can make a bomb out of dry ice?”
Me: “Yeah….wait….what? Where did you hear that?”
Alex: “I saw it on YouTube. These guys blew up a car. It was awesome.”
Me: “Right. I guess that parental control software was a good investment.”
Alex: “Dad, your password is ‘1234'. Not really effective.”
Me: “Well let's go run and you can tell me all about it.”
Alex: “Does mom really need her car?”
Me: “Of course…Why?...Hey, don't even THINK about touching your mom's car. And bombs are no joke. As a kid I had a friend who got in big trouble for blowing up his neighbor's mailbox.”
Alex: “Cool. What did he use for explosives?”
Me: “I think it was a mixture of gunpowd…..Look, I'm gonna run without you.
Alex: “Cool. Can you run by Ziggy's and pick me up some Red Bull and firecrackers?
Me: “I'm not gonna buy you firecrackers.”
Alex: “Okay, then just the Red Bull.”
Me: “You know you aren't allowed to drink Red Bull.”
Alex: “But you already said ‘no' to the firecrackers.”
Me: “Do you think I'm a complete moron?”
Alex: “You're the one running barefoot in the snow.”
*Posted here at the BRS and at www.runbarefooteurope.blogspot.com
Here's the conversation we had about running this weekend:
Me: “Alex, we haven't run together in a while. Why don't we go for a few kilometers today?”
Alex: “Dad, it's snowing.”
Me: “What's the big deal? You guys love playing in the snow.”
Alex: “Have you seen my nerf gun? I can't find it.”
Me: “Haven't seen it. So do you want to run or not?”
Alex: “You gotta see the new YouTube video of the Long Shot nerf gun. That thing is awesome!”
Me: “Hellllooo! We're talking about running here. Are we going?”
Alex: “Dad, only morons run in snow.”
Me: “No, only dads and sons with strong, warm, muscular feet from barefoot running.”
Alex: “God you're weird. And stop showing your barefeet to my friends when they come over. It's gross and you're freaking them out.”
Me: “Can't a man be proud of how his feet are developing?”
Alex: “Did you know you can make a bomb out of dry ice?”
Me: “Yeah….wait….what? Where did you hear that?”
Alex: “I saw it on YouTube. These guys blew up a car. It was awesome.”
Me: “Right. I guess that parental control software was a good investment.”
Alex: “Dad, your password is ‘1234'. Not really effective.”
Me: “Well let's go run and you can tell me all about it.”
Alex: “Does mom really need her car?”
Me: “Of course…Why?...Hey, don't even THINK about touching your mom's car. And bombs are no joke. As a kid I had a friend who got in big trouble for blowing up his neighbor's mailbox.”
Alex: “Cool. What did he use for explosives?”
Me: “I think it was a mixture of gunpowd…..Look, I'm gonna run without you.
Alex: “Cool. Can you run by Ziggy's and pick me up some Red Bull and firecrackers?
Me: “I'm not gonna buy you firecrackers.”
Alex: “Okay, then just the Red Bull.”
Me: “You know you aren't allowed to drink Red Bull.”
Alex: “But you already said ‘no' to the firecrackers.”
Me: “Do you think I'm a complete moron?”
Alex: “You're the one running barefoot in the snow.”
*Posted here at the BRS and at www.runbarefooteurope.blogspot.com
