Some of you may be thinking that this is a bizarre title. I know what you're thinking: sure, she has an adorable, spoiled cat, but that does not make her an expert on parenting. He's not even toilet trained.
Also, I know what the rest of you are thinking. She had a great childhood. Her parents are great people, I know them, I've met them. But does she have to brag?
Stay with me here. Over time I've developed a list of things that are vital for parents to make sure their children learn, as it will help them later in life when they decide to do a triathlon. I'd like to share that list with you today.
Things Every Parent Should Teach Their Child:
1. How to Swim. We're not just talking about taking them in the hotel pool when they go on vacation. I mean send them off to swimming lessons when they are 6. As I spend more time honing my swimming, I've been remembering summers spent at the Ken Gril pool in Shillington, PA, learning to put my face in the water and kick. While I may not be the best swimmer, and I never was as a child either, I definitely have the advantage of at least having the basics down. I can't imagine being 23 and having to start completely from scratch.
2. How to ride a bike. Similar lines here. Every kid should know how to ride a bike. Whether they do a triathlon or just date someone who does, they will want to ride a bike. Now that we live in the age of "green," bikes are all the rage. Also we 23-30 year olds tend to live in the age of "poor," so it's better than a car.
3. How to pump air in a bike tire. This is where my parents let me down. Either they taught me and I forgot, or they never gave me this valuable talk. To make things easier, let's just blame them. Now that I live 3 hours away from them, I turn to my boyfriend to get the air into my race tires. I'm sure he loves this responsibility, especially when I call him in tears because I tried to do it myself and am then staring at the flatest of tires oozing onto the hardwood floors of my apartment.
4. How to be early. This sounds like a stupid one. It sounds like a really lame whine of a morning person trapped in a world of night owls. Ok, that is part of it. But seriously, it can help. When you start working out a 7pm instead of 6pm, suddenly you're riding your bike home in the dark. When you get to a race at 6:30am instead of 6am, suddenly you have no time to prep. When you wake up at 7am instead of 5am on a training day, well, you're out of luck for training. I still remember my dad coming into my room during the summer if I slept too late and opening the blinds. It was really annoying. But in retrospect, it was helpful.
5. How to spend money wisely. Final one on the list here and this one is key. These races that I do are not cheap. The costs of training, traveling, and racing can really add up. I've spent more than I expected to with this triathlon. But I've found some shortcuts that only came from remembering my mom asking me if I really needed the $80 jeans when the $40 pair didn't even need to be hemmed to fit my short, stumpy legs. Ok she didn't really phrase it like that...For example, my bike is a hand-me-down, 1980s racebike. It's hardcore, sure, but it's not top of the line or anything. I saved hundreds of dollars by using this bike instead of buying a new one. I've put some maintenance into it, but I would've spent a lot more if I had gotten a new one. This lesson goes both ways though. I know that there are some things that I just have to buy. Like cycling shoes (I bought them this weekend and I LOVE THEM). I'm doing this race full time. I'm not half-assing it. So I've had to spend some money.
Ok, those are some of the things I've thought of during my long runs and bike rides. I don't really think of anything as I swim, except sea monsters. Those are scary. You have to teach your kids that those don't exist too, add that to your list.
I wonder what I'll find in the Potomac?
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