How did everyone do on their first day of the challenge? Although a 2-3 mile walk was a pretty easy start, I made sure to make it as difficult as possible for myself. For instance, I forgot to pack shoes and clothes to change into after work. I was wearing skinny jeans and riding boots. Not the best for a “long” walk. So I changed into some loafers I happened to have in my car from a meeting last week. Oh and “walk”? Try jogging in a pair of oversized loafers – don’t forget the skinny jeans – chasing after Mackenzie who was riding his bike down the trail. All while pushing Spencer in the jogger stroller. Super stupid mom indeed.
Our three mile walk turned out to be a fairly intensive interval workout. He’s a drill sergeant that boy: “Come on mom!”, “Ya snooze, ya lose!”, “Too bad, too sad” as he passed me time and time again.
Nick on the other hand had remembered to pack clothes and was running faster than Mack, turning around and doing loops around us both.
Tonight I’m definitely packing the right clothes!
Halloween Reading
I still cannot believe that it is October already. I had been posting our summer reading books in preparation for Kindergarten and now here we are, more than a month into the school year.
Mackenzie has been talking about Halloween since the start of September so you can guess that we’ll be reading lots of Halloween-themed books now that October has arrived. If you have some Halloween favorites please feel free to share them in the comments section below.
Bone Soup. I love this one because the guy is a little goofy, a little creepy and no one wants to have a “feast” with him but he eventually gets the whole town to come together. I like that it’s a subtle reminder that things are better when we come together – whether it’s dinner with the family, Thanksgiving or bone soup. Thanks Gramma Criss for buying us this book last Halloween 
Wacky Wednesday. Not a Halloween book per se but this is always a fun story – counting the things that are wrong. Hoping you can find them all quickly so that wacky Wednesday will be no more.
Too Much Junk Food. Can you tell I picked this book? I thought it’d be good to review the concepts of eating healthy and avoiding too much junk food right as we get into the candy season. One of my favorite parts in this book is when the dad, Papa Bear, thinks that eating healthy doesn’t have to apply to him – and then his pants bust open. It’s a good reminder year round and a great conversation starter for kids. I don’t want to talk to Mackenzie about dieting or being too heavy or too skinny or this and that. I simply want to show him what’s healthy and I think this book is a means for that discussion.
By the Light of the Halloween Moon. “By the light, by the light, by the silvery light of the Halloween moon.” This book is all about growing repetition – think “I don’t know why she swallowed the fly” – and it’s a fun one because Mack can read a majority of the sentences and as we repeat the stanzas he learns to recognize some of the more challenging words. It’s a cute book and again, thanks to Gramma Criss for sending it our way!
We have made a commitment to read for twenty minutes each night and we keep track of the time in Mackenzie’s homework folder. If we keep up with our commitment, Mack will get some sort of reward from the school. I remember when I was in elementary school we had “Book It” and you filled out a sheet for your reading time. I forget if it tracked time reading or just the number of books but once the card was filled out you would get a free personal pan pizza from Pizza Hut. They also had a summer program at the library that was similar. I had a lot of those little pizzas
Nick’s school had a similar program for kids that got good grades and gave out tickets to the Aquasox which is a minor division baseball team (affiliated with the Mariners for those of you that follow baseball).
I remember reading books nonstop in order to fill out my Book-It sheet and earn a pizza; Nick remembers studying and getting his grades up so he could go to baseball games. What will Mackenzie remember working hard for?
I think programs – incentives – like this are wonderful. Make reading fun. Make it a competition, a game, let there be “winning.” What do you think?
Start the discussion…
You’re right. My walk was just the opposite of yours, peaceful and beautiful views vs chaotic. You’re workout will be much more organized tonight. Our weather is changing so I’m not sure what it will be like this time out.
Yes, we all love the accomplishment of winning! We can encourage each other with the wins we have everyday, in little things and big.