You want to do what?

Wow. Over 700 page views. Thanks everyone. I'm thrilled. :-)

I'm also recovering from some kind of flu. I love going to swimming lessons with the kids when I feel like this because the Y keeps the pool deck heated at about 85F and 100% humidity. It feels great when you're sick. Of course, it feels sick when you feel good, so there's the trade-off.

The kids can't take swimming lessons at the same time any more. Hannah is at one level (Porpoise) and Caleb is several levels below her (Fish) and they only offer Hannah's level on Saturdays. This is great when I'm not feeling well because I can get up and go to the pool and sweat like a pig.

Mom always insisted that we all learn to swim. She said that we had to be able to swim well enough to save her if the need ever arose. But that practicality aside, I agree with her. Everyone should swim. It's great exercise, it might save your life someday, and if you do it well enough, you could have a better job than McDonald's during the summer months. Who wouldn't rather lifeguard after all? Not that I'm knocking McD's. I worked there for three years. I still have a hard time eating french fries. When you come home smelling like a fryer, it kind of turns you off to it for awhile...forever actually.

The Y offers a lot of programs, but one of their sponsored events is a kids triathlon offered in tandem with their regular triathlon. They encourage all of the swimming lesson kids levels Fish and above to enter. I'm not sure why. Being able to swim doesn't mean that you can run or ride a bike for that matter, but since my kids can do all three activities, they've started training. At least that's their excuse for running through the house like my halls are a race track.

Hannah did the triathlon last year, and both she and Caleb want to do it this year. I was Hannah's support team. I had no clue what I was getting into. I struck up an agreement with Hannah. She could do the triathlon, but she had to do the best she could in every category and she had to try her hardest to finish, no matter how long it took her. This year I know a bit more about what I'm getting into. I've made the same agreement with both of them and I can say that I'm really proud of my kids for wanting to do this. I'm not thrilled, but I'm proud.

Before the swim--inked up.

I am really not thrilled at all.That sounds awful, but it's true. I'm not thrilled. Last year it was 45F and windy and drizzling on race day. We started before 8am--a special kind of hell in and of itself. For anyone not familiar with triathlons, you start off swimming. With the kids' triathlon that's a swim in lap pool--not the 80F pool, the other one; the one they keep at about 35F so it doesn't freeze. The kids have to swim 200m in the 7-10 year old category (yes, we're mixing our measuring systems. Sorry. I'm American.) This isn't far, but it's far enough for kids who might never have swum laps before. Hannah did okay. She didn't pace herself though and had to switch to backstroke for the last 50m. No problem. It's a triathlon. You get through it any way you can, as well as you can.

After the swim, you have to ride a bike. Again, no problem....except for the 45F and windy...and rain...and the kids were wet and cold. The "transition" station was outside in the middle of the track. The wind was whipping around. I was cold, and I wasn't even wet. I gave Hannah my gloves. I gave her my ear warmers. I told her that if she finished she could pick where we were going to eat dinner. She was so cold she couldn't even tie her own shoes. And she had to ride a mile on her bike. She was nearly crying. I think I was crying, but we had a deal. She was going to try her hardest. Not only was I crying by this point, I was terribly, terribly guilty that I was making my child do this. Not that she hadn't begged to do it. Not at all. I had not only let her do it, but I felt as if I had forced her to do it.

Many of the kids got out onto the street where the course was mapped out, and turned around and came back almost immediately. I know this because the kids were all chip-timed, and there is no way 7-10 year olds would be able to ride a mile in under 2 minutes. Hannah wavered in the face of the wind, but she didn't stop. She pushed and pushed and was soon out of sight. Nearly 10 nail biting minutes later she came back into sight. I was relieved. Now just a half mile to run.

She ran it. I didn't run it with her, although I ran alongside of her for a bit. "Don't embarrass me," she requested through chattering teeth as she rounded a turn. I fell back. I was embarrassing??...but George and Caleb were there with their "go Hannah" signs, hooting and hollering and that wasn't embarrassing at all.

And she finished. Soaking wet and nearly crying she finished the run and got her finisher's medal. She picked Barnaby's for dinner. At dinner, Caleb announced that he was going to do it next year.

So here I am. happy that they are going to do this, but knowing that my own misery will be compounded as I watch both of them struggle, shiver and maybe cry their way through the triathlon course. But I will support them. I'll be their cheerleader and their coach, and I will encourage them when the going gets tough, and I won't embarrass them any more than is completely necessary. I'll do it because it's good practice. As they get older, that's the role I'll have to fill in their lives.

And no matter where they finish, I'll be proud of them. Getting through...that's what matters after all.

Now he wants to do it too.