Running with scissors

[triing]

Both my boys are turning out to be good runners. Gets it from their mother, no doubt. I hate to compare but my 6-year-old is a naturally gifted runner. The 10 year old finds it hard to keep up sometimes. Heck, I find it hard. I’ll have to post a video one day.

Anyway, last weekend I took them to a hilly trail at a park. The 6-year-old decided to pick up a stick and ran with it for a while until the suburban dad put an end to it. “It’s dangerous, you could get stabbed, blah-blah-blah” etc. Later on, however, I thought about it. Growing up in India, I used to do that when I was young. Nobody stopped me. I’ve seen videos of the Tarahumara doing that. Perhaps it’s a natural instinctive thing. Perhaps I should just shut up and try to keep up next time. Any thoughts?

 

[Chaserwilliams]

What? Man, my parents forced

What? Man, my parents forced me to run with scissors when I was little. Something about an accident having an accident.. I dunno.

 

[Barefoot TJ]

You're being a good father. 

You're being a good father. Some people are more cautious with their children than others. You are more cautious with yours. That's never a bad thing. Keep being a good daddy.

 

[NickW]

I do think it's natural but I

I do think it's natural but I do also think there is some wisdom to the fact that one can get hurt if you trip and fall. It's a balancing act I guess of which is worse, living life afraid or being to free and risking injury. I used to get in trouble all the time for running with sharp objects, and yes I did hurt myself on occaision, luckily never anything serious. But then I was also the kid that set a jug of motor oil on fire with gas just to see how long it would burn.....next to the garage.... at my friends house.... Turned out I couldn't put it out when I needed to. I was a bad bad kid. Terrified that my boy may get like I was....

 

[triing]

Barefoot TJ wrote:... Some

... Some people are more cautious with their children than others. ...

Ha ha ha! That is so true. But I fear it may back-fire, like Nemo (I gather most of my life lessons from Disney )



@Chaser, I can quite understand why



@Nick, as long as they're doing it at their friend's house it's okay. Just not on my watch

 

[Chaserwilliams]

Im somewhat protective of my

Im somewhat protective of my chitlins as far as being in public and around other people, mainly because Im paranoid and dont like people. But when it comes to physical harm Ill let it go pretty far before I interfere.

 

[triing]

I forget how old yours are.

I forget how old yours are. (I can't even cheat and look at older posts from the other forum, they did a thorough job with you there). Do you get to run with them often?



Last weekend was my 4th time ever. I really should spend more time with them.

 

[Barefoot TJ]

A little boy I went to school

A little boy I went to school with in the sixth grade accidentally set himself on fire, basically doing the same thing, Nick. He was burned from head-to-toe, 3rd degree, and needless to say, he suffered greatly. When he came back to school, finally after a very long abscense, all the kids just stared at him. It was very sad, and I felt so bad for him.

Another kid at my high school, one of the most popular kids, a football player, was at the beach doing back flips in the ocean. A wave hit him at just the right moment, and caused him to land on his neck. He was paralyzed from the chin down and out of school for a long time. When he finally came back to school, he had to use wheel chair to get around. Over the next year or more, he progressed to a walker, then crutches. He never was the same though.

I warn my boys of the consequences of playing with fire, flammable fluids, guns, knifes, running with scissors, and stranger danger, and I always will. And when they get older, I will warn them about the consequences of drinking and driving, doing drugs, not practicing safe sex, etc. It's better to be safe than sorry, and there's nothing wrong with protecting your kids. And it is possible to protect them without going over board. Just don't preach about it on a daily basis, but be sure to use learning examples when the chance does arrive.

 

[NickW]

Oh I agree TJ, we need to

Oh I agree TJ, we need to teach our kids about danger, but part of that teaching is what got me curious about the oil in the first place, and lighting hairspray. We were told never to do it, so me being the curious little kid I was who couldn't seem to learn from other people and always had to learn things the hard way, would test these warnings out. Guess in a way I'm glad I wasn't afraid to try things out, I never would have started running barefoot. If I always heeded everyones warnings I would still think running barefoot was stupid and everyone that did it was going to hurt themselves.

 

[Barefoot TJ]

Well, I must be doing

Well, I must be doing something right then because my 9 year old loves to run barefoot with me. He's up to six miles now!

 

[NotSoDoomedRunner]

It is definitely a balancing

It is definitely a balancing act of not wanting them to be afraid to do anything vs. not wanting them to do overly stupid things. I try to let him have a long leash and learn his lessons. I probably would not want him running with a stick, but he is 3, so it is pretty likely he will fall... and possibly right into the stick. I want my kid to experience some pain to learn to deal with it, but not be missing an eye. Mine loves running but I've never seen him want to pick up a stick. He likes to throw rocks.

 

[Barefoot TJ]

I totally agree,

I totally agree, NotSoDoomed. It's a fine line we are walking as parents, and it's hard to always know when we are doing the right thing. All we can do is do our best and pray for the best.

 

[scedastic]

Barefoot TJ wrote:Well, I

Well, I must be doing something right then because my 9 year old loves to run barefoot with me. He's up to six miles now!

Indeed you are! That's amazing!!!



I'm hoping to get my kids to go on up to 3-4 milers with me by next spring.

 

[Barefoot TJ]

I'm sure you will.  They seem

I'm sure you will. They seem to have it a lot easier than we do. When my son runs on asphalt, for example, he runs like a feather; he is so light, it seems as if his feet barely touch the ground. It doesn't hurt that he weighs the same as a feather though. Hee.

 

[migangelo]

just have a couple or a few

just have a couple or a few kids so that if anything does happen to one then you have more as back up.

 

[triing]

@migangelo, that was the

@migangelo, that was the rationale behind having 3 kids, that's 1 main and 2 backup :smile:

@NickW, "Never do this" has been an invitation that I haven't been able to outgrow.

@NSDR, you siad it! It's a hard balancing act. Someday when they grow up and lay on that couch and b*tch about how daddy never let them do anything fun, I'll know my work is done. :smile:

@TJ, 9 years, 6 miles cool!