Bragging on My Son and A Dance Party, too! Can it Get any Better?

 We have been working with my eight-year old son on something called Marathon Kids in an effort to get more exercise for him (and for us, too).  The goal of Marathon Kids is to run increments of a marathon over several months and work on endurance and making running a part of your everyday schedule.  By the end of the program he will have run 26.2 miles, and there is a large ceremony held at a stadium in Austin to recognize the kids who finish.  One of my friends who works there says that the kids feel like rock stars with all of the "fans" cheering for them.  I think they also get a medal for completing it. 

So far, he has completed 9 miles, and tonight he will run another 1/2 mile, as he has now decided to shoot for a mile a day.  When we started, he was having trouble with the 1/4 mile, but now he runs 1/4 mile, then sprints much of the way back!  He has always been a big and tall kid, and we didn't want his weight to become an issue, so we wanted to give him some additional incentive to exercise.  He got really excited about the marathon idea and he will also get a big prize from me at the end of the program.

Yesterday was the first day that he completed a full mile (1/2 in the morning, 1/2 in the evening).  My wife said that she has noticed a marked increase in his speed, which is awesome.  He also had his martial arts lesson during the day, so that was a great day overall for him.  He actually has a "junior black belt" in Tukong Moosul, which I believe is the 12th belt that he has obtained so far.  Martial arts has been great for his balance, coordination, discipline, etc.  Good stuff!

So, last night, after he finished his second run, he said, "We need to celebrate!  How about a dance party?"  Just in case you were thinking this is an odd request or that the Crouches live in an Elvis musical movie ("Hey gang, I just finished my taxes!  Time for a song!"), the dance party is something I started in order to have some fun with the kids at times like this.  Basically, my wife bought me an iPod deck from Bose for Christmas last year that we keep in the kitchen now, and it is perfect for just such an occasion. 

A dance party at the Crouch house is an opportunity for all of us to dance around and just be silly for awhile.  The soundtrack changes each time, but here are some of the tunes from our party:

"September" by Earth, Wind and Fire -  always part of the playlist

"Night Fever" by the Bee Gees - another one that almost always gets played, so that we can do the trademark John Travolta moves from the movie (this is one of the worst song videos ever, by the way)

"Dance Tonight" by Paul McCartney - This song seems to cut across all generations, as my mom loves this song, as does our toddler.  So do I.  Maybe that's why McCartney is an uber-billionaire now.

"Makes Me Wonder" from Maroon 5.  Honestly, Maroon 5 is starting to work their way into our parties more and more often lately.  Even our 20-month old girl dances to them.  Last night, we all tried to dance like her, which was tons of fun.  She can move!

Thanks for reading about my family time!