Parent and run

I often worry about not being a good enough mom.

And when this feeling gets to be too much, I crumble, and invite one of my children to tag along during a run. This is a big gesture for me, because running is all about spending some time on my own. Without any children!

This Saturday I invited my youngest son, Piet, along. After about ten minutes Piet asked in his little boy's voice: 'How much further, mommy?'
'Not far at all! We'll only do a short run!'

To please him, after about fifteen minutes of running (me) and biking (Piet), we stopped for a cup of coffee (me) and some icecream (Piet).
'Isn't this nice, Piet?' I asked, because I wanted some acknowledgement about being a great mom and all that.
'Will I still get an icecream after dinner?' he said worriedly. 'Because if not, it wouldn't be fair, since this one is very small.'

After demolishing his icecream Piet wanted to leave. And when we were about five minutes on our way, he once again wondered how much further it would be.
So I took a short cut, and when we got home after about ten minutes, Piet said in a smug tone of voice: 'I did a good deed today mommy!'
'What good deed?'
I kept you company during your run!

Which only goes to show: no good deed goes unpunished….