The little girl has been reciting this poem recently after learning it in school and I thought it was a great opportunity for me to teach the kids on how they need to have the courage to dream, to work hard to achieve your visions, to persevere and never give up.
Yup, if you know me, I'm quite a strong-willed, and somewhat stubborn, person and if I set my mind to do something, I go all out to do it. This trait has probably done me more good than harm and if you were to ask me what I would like to instill in my girls, at this moment, I would say tenacity and resilience. I want them to be able to bounce back when they fall, to grit their teeth and endure, to fight on strongly and push beyond limits.
Too much for a 6-year-old and 3-year-old? Well, I say it's best to start from young.
Last weekend, the girls and I participated in the Family Fun Run at Shape Run 2016. While it's just a 1.8km fun run and not a race, I wanted all of us to try our very best to accomplish whatever we could. Although they have participated in a handful of kids' runs in recent years, most only lasted 800m and this was considered quite a long distance run for them.
My strategy was to firstly, get ready and lay out everything we need, including breakfast, socks, shoes, attire, race bibs, caps, sunscreen, camera and so on. Secondly, make the kids go to bed as early as possible the night before, which was hard considering that we were at the NDP Preview which got them all exhilarated. Thirdly and most importantly, I told the hubby, who was going to drive us there and help look after the baby while I ran, that we needed to report by 7:15am even though the run would not start before 8am. Smart move, right?
See? The benefits of arriving early on the scene means we got to take many wefies! Woohoo! I was so thankful to see that the weather was kind that morning and not only were there clear skies, it was also a cool and breezy morning which was simply perfect for a run!
The race was about to begin! Before that, we definitely need to get ourselves stretched first. See? While many people were busy doing their own thing, we were some of the only ones who diligently followed and did the warm up exercise from start to end. Haha. Well, it was all part of the fun, right? I could tell that the girls really enjoyed it and that was what mattered.
Can you spot us? Yes, there we were! It was really an awesome feeling to be able to run with so many families and it is encouraging to see many other parents who love to run with their kids too and work towards an active lifestyle.
The first one was when Angel fell down and scraped her knee. Yes, ouch. I have to tell you that she's quite a good runner and has more stamina than I would expect for a kid her age. So, during the run, she obviously had the ability to run faster than the little sister and many a time, she was turning around to look at us and make sure we were in sight. One time when it happened, her foot tripped on the boardwalk and she fell over.
Did she cry? No. Did she whine? No, not at all. What did she do? She got up, I gave her a hug and she just continued running. Yes, that's my girl. No tears, no giving up. She only realised that her wound was bleeding after the race and that was when we stopped to get it cleaned. I was so, so proud of her for being strong enough to go on and determined enough to get to the finishing line.
The second one involved who else but the little sister. Now, this three-year-old girl started to whine and complain that she was tired when we were just a quarter way through the run. She panted, she grumbled, she moaned, and she kept saying "My legs are so tired".
Would you, as a mum, let her stop to take a short break? I wasn't sure if I should, but I didn't. And I'm very glad I didn't.
What did I do? I sang nursery rhymes to engage her, I did cheers to encourage her, I chattered a lot about not giving up and turned it into a chant. Yes, I can't believe I did all that because I was panting so hard. There was a point when she started whining with every step she took, to the extent that it annoyed me a little and I told her "If you channel all your energy into running instead of whining, we'll be at the finishing line already." Then, I asked her to 'catch' her sister who was up ahead. I also kept telling her that we were nearing the end and the words that I kept repeating incessantly were "You can do it, meimei, Don't give up."
She requested for me to hold her hand for almost the entire journey. She almost broke down several times and couldn't stop ranting. She even cried the moment she saw her father at the ending point.
But guess what, SHE DID IT. She didn't stop for the whole 1.8km and I'm just so, so proud of her too! Sure, we became slower towards the end and other people overtook us. We didn't come in first and we probably didn't clock a fantastic timing. What mattered to me was that we did our very, very best and we reached beyond what we thought we could achieve. It wasn't just me they amazed, but they surprised themselves too and I know that they felt that incredible sense of achievement. How very priceless that is, right?
We did it! We finished our 1.8km Family Fun run at Shape Run 2016! The big girl fell down halfway and scraped her knee, while the little one whined a fair bit and almost wanted to give up. But guess what? With encouragement and support from each other, we didn't stop at all and ran ALL the way. It didn't matter that we were quite slow and didn't come in first, but it meant the world to me that we did it together and persevered till the end. Never give up! P.S. Thanks to the hubby who looked after the baby at the sideline so I could finally spend some girly time with these two. Missed those days! #ahappymum #shaperunsg #shaperun2016 #sisters #iloverunning #wedidit #nevergiveupA photo posted by Summer Goh 🌞 (@ahappymum) on Jul 23, 2016 at 7:27pm PDT
So, they truly deserved their medals after the run and we are going to have so many fond memories whenever we look at these medals in future. For the rest of the day, these girls were terribly excited to share their experiences with friends and family, and their starting lines went along "I fell down but I got up and ran!" and "I kept whining and whining BUT I didn't stop!" Every time I heard it, I couldn't help but smile.
"I like my Skechers shoes because they are sparkly and comfortable." - Angel "I like my Skechers shoes because they are very pretty." - Ariel "I like my Skechers shoes because they are lightweight, good for running and give me the confidence to go on." - Summer Thanks to @skecherssg for the vibrant new shoes and for giving us so many fond memories today! We will be sharing our experience on the blog soon, stay tuned! #ahappymum #Skechers #shaperunsg #shaperun2016 #iloverunning #sponsoredA photo posted by Summer Goh 🌞 (@ahappymum) on Jul 23, 2016 at 8:32pm PDTSo, here's a big THANK YOU to Skechers and Shape Run for teaching my kids such an important lesson and I really hope this is the start of them learning what it truly means to never give up. We definitely hope to take part in more family runs in future and I can't wait for my baby boy to be big enough to join us on our adventures!
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Having a good pair of shoes can be the key to maximising your potential and ensuring your comfort during a run. I find that this is not just important for me, but even more so for the kids too and while I'm not so particular about what sporty attire they wear, I like to feel assured that they are clad in a pair of good, quality footwear.
Skechers has over 30 stores located across the island so you can easily located a store that is most convenient for you here. We visited the store in ION Orchard (located at B4-28) and were once again impressed by the prompt service and friendly staff.
While I was helping Angel to determine if her shoe fit, one of the staff helped Ariel to try on her shoe and found the right size swiftly. I have always been amazed by the variety of appealing designs they have in the kids section and the girls usually have a hard time picking out their favorite because they love so many of them!
This time round, I got for myself the GOrun Ride 5 which features increased cushioning and midsole for additional impact protection and response. Angel is wearing the Swirly Girl - Shine Vibe which has a mesh fabric with embossed details, an ombre color effect and a glittery top strap which she loves madly. Ariel's is the Girls Skechers Foamies Trainers which are lightweight, washable, come with memory foam soles and velcro fastening.
So, that's it for now! We'll definitely try our best to make full use of our running shoes, go outdoors more often, explore more new sights and build up a healthy lifestyle as a family.
Disclosure: We received a media invite from Skechers to participate in Shape Run 2016 and they also kindly sponsored our shoes for the event. All opinions are our own.