The Transformation

In school this last year, my younger daughter had a science module on caterpillars.  The class watched as the caterpillars transformed into butterflies.  She was absolutely fascinated!!  Every time we walked past mallow, which is a caterpillar’s favorite food, she would shriek with excitement: “Mom, mom, it’s mallow! It’s mallow!”

Yesterday morning I woke up with only an hour to eat breakfast, feed the dog, get myself dressed, wake my daughter, and get her to track practice.  Because I usually only wake her up when we have somewhere to go, and usually in a hurry, the chances of her waking in a good mood are slim to none.  This morning was no different.  SHE.WAS.PISSED.OFF!

I used every ounce of restraint I could muster, and explained that it was a good idea to go since she would only get to one workout next week.  I knew the coach was going to work them hard, it was going to be hot, and I had to pick my words and battles wisely.  She finally got up and began to dress.  We agreed on breakfast and headed out the door.

Once there, one of the kids asked the coach if they would be running Big Red, a legendary local hill.  All of the kids breathed a sigh of relief when he said no.  Until he said we’d jog 2 miles to a different hill for repeats.  Thankfully, Lo wasn’t listening and/or her grouchy mood rendered her incapable of doing the math.  Four miles + repeats, uh-oh.

On the way to the hill, she said “Mom, you should have listened when I told you I didn’t want to come today.”  Oops, maybe she did do the math….   We jogged along in silence until we hit the repeats.  She dug down and cranked out repeats, until the coach told her to head back.

She plodded along, occasionally kicking rocks, other times whining about toenails.  To distract her from her grumpiness and pain, I told her that I had a secret, but couldn’t tell her until we got back to the start.  She ran along trying to figure out what the secret might possibly be.  Back at the park, I explained that she had just run over 5 miles, which is farther than she has ever gone.  I asked her if she was happy now that she woke up and went to track practice.  Now, in a much better mood, she was happy that she had run.

Like that caterpillar, she transformed herself into a beautiful butterfly and flitted her way through the rest of the day.

Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *