Wednesday, August 24, 2011

I told you so and 9-11 in school

Let's start with the running...
So it is HOOOOOOOT here.  All my week days run have been over 93 degrees lately.  On the weekend I leave earlier so it is in the 80s.  It is hard to run in the heat.  I am over it.  Bring on the California winter or for other normal states the fall!
Today I was a wimp...I decided that I have had enough of the oven and I went to the gym for 3 miles tempo.  Tomorrow is rest day, I have to go help the teachers because Friday is a day off for the kids. Already.  After just 3 weeks.  Because it is soooooo tough being 5 and 7 and going to school so we need a little rest. Friday off means running at the gym again, it is OK.  Saturday last long run with 12 miles.  Do you guys do your last LR the week before or 2 weeks before the race? I see on blogs that some do their last one 2 weeks before...that makes for a really long taper...no?
Long taper that would drive me nuts I think.


OK so what happens to a 44 yrs old out of shape guy who has zero super power, who has had 2 days off since June 8  and has worked 16-21 hrs a day since then and has not been listening to his wife all this time? The answer is : He gets SICK. Just like his wife said he would.  Yep Bill has fallen.  He came home with a fever and achy body feeling LIKE CRAP.  I got to say "I told you so" He had to take it like a big boy.
He went to bed.  A few hours later I went to check on him and he announced he would get up at 4:30 to go to work.  OVER MY DEAD BODY.  That is the answer he got.  I went downstairs and did what a good wife should do: Hide keys, phone and PC
He did stay home today.  I made sure to be the one answering the phone when his boss called.   I am not happy he is not well...of course not...and do I think he will learn anything from this? Absolutely not!


On to the next topic.  Yesterday when I picked Will up from school I did like I always do when we drive home, I asked about his day.  He said "It was good! We learned about Neil Armstrong and 9-11!"  "WHAT?????????" I almost went through a STOP sign there.  I was so not prepared for this.  I had just asked Bill last weekend if he thought we should prepare Will in case they discuss it in class for the 10th anniversary.  He said he did not think they would talk about 9-11 in the lower grades classes.  Will is 7 yrs old.  I wish he did not have to know about the horrible parts of our world just now.  It makes me sad that he now knows how bad human beings can be.   I still have all the newspapers (NY and LA times) from 9-12-01 and the days following plus the TIMES and other magazines.  They are put away so the kids cannot go and look at all those images.  He had lots of questions....the main one being WHY.  I wish the teacher would have informed us that this was in their school books.  I get it, it is part of the history, I just would have liked to prepare him a little bit for this one.  So we talked about that a lot yesterday.  I still have a hard time with this myself.  Will asked to see pictures of 9-11 and for now I did say no to that.  He is just 7 he does not have to see all the ugliness.

In our family room we have a picture that I took of Bill from the Statue of Liberty and behind him are the twin towers.  I took it on 09-11-00.




13 comments:

The Unexpected Runner said...

I remember....it was in my oldests' first week of kindergarten. We are in upstate NY & the school locked down & we couldn't retrieve our kids...we were told later that the flight path of the PA plane passed over us! Unfortunately, it was too big a thing for them to miss all the imagery :(...I'm sorry you got blindsided by this.

Jim ... 50after40 said...

My kids were 9 & 10 at the time, and like many parents, we struggled to explain exactly what happened to the young ones. Never easy dealing with something like this as a parent.

Terzah said...

My kids still think bad guys only do things like break traffic rules (in which case I'm a bad guy sometimes...hmmm...). I will be sure to ask about this next year when they start elementary school--I think 7 is too young too, though I guess it's better than hearing about it from other kids or TV.

I'm ready for the hot weather to beat it too. I have a tempo run tomorrow and will have to get up early for it to be bearable.

Kate Geisen said...

You know, I teach first grade and 9-11 isn't something that I go into with my students at all, though typically it seems like there are far more kids who know way too much than kids who are protected from the bad things in the news. And I don't think that my own 7 year old knows much or anything about it. That said, when IS the right time to talk about something like that...it's part of our history and was a huge defining moment for our country.

I don't know. I don't have an answer, just thinking out loud.

And I hope Bill gets feeling better soon. Jeff would absolutely go to work. Men!

Jill said...

It's so hard to see pictures of the Twin Towers, man they were so beautiful!

I hope your hubby feels better soon, good for you to hid all the work essentials ;).

Nelly said...

I may have asked this before, but what does Bill do that requires him to work 16-21 hours a day, 7 days a week? You might not be able to say, but honestly I'm surprised that he lasted this long without getting sick. Seems like he should be working half the hours he is working. It sounds like he is doing the work of 2 people. Could he switch jobs or ask to have his hours reduced? I just fear for his well being working that much.

That is surprising that Will was already learning about 9/11/01 at 7 years old. That seems kind of young. But I guess maybe it's better to bring it up now, since it will be in the news soon. That picture of Bill is surreal with the twin towers in the background.

Black Knight said...

Heat. You are right, it is better to run into the gym when outside it is hot. But how can you do the long runs on the treadmill? About the question: I run the long the week before only if the race is not a marathon or a half.

Work. We must work to live and no .... to live to work. I hope your hubby gets well soon.

9-11. A tragedy for all the civilized world. In my opinion, with the right words, the children must know too.

Anne said...

I hope Bill feels better soon, but I guess his body needed a break.

It's hard to explain such tragedy to young children, but it's better that he hears about it from the teacher and his parents...that he can ask the questions he needs to ask and get your answers. I agree that this being the 10 year anniversary, he's bound to see images and hear about it...so he'll be ready. I agree with you and totally understand how you would want to protect your children from this ugliness...you're a great mom Caroline.

Big Daddy Diesel said...

Men never listen, I admit it.

Tough call about 9-11 and schools. Its still fresh in our minds, I am sure they learned about the Revoluntionary War and Civil War, even though the were still wars, human life was lost, they shaped our country. 9-11 is different, will always be different, our parents Pearl Harbor, we have 9-11. I am leaning to agree, maybe its too early to learn about.

Unknown said...

Wow, that picture gave me goosebumps. Last year (5th grade), my daughter's teacher talked about 9-11, those kids were 1 at the time. I really liked how the teacher talked to them about it and he left a lot for the kids to follow up with their parents. 7 years old is a little hard to translate a conversation from teachers to parents. The kids all pick up something different from what they are told.

My last LR was last week (training plan from an RRCA coach), I'm supposed to do 2 separate 6 milers this week. But the week isn't shaping up well - still haven't done the first. It's on tap for today.

Coy Martinez said...

It's soooo odd to see a pic like that with the towers in the background. My dad use to work in tower 2 but left his job about 6 months before they fell. It's crazy when you think about what might have been.

Christy @ My Dirt Road Anthem: A Runner's Blog said...

Hope Bill feels better soon! My husband is a total wuss when he is sick. I can't believe that was almost ten years ago now doesn't seem like it. I hate having to explain the ugliness of the world to my kids, I wish I could protect them from it always and just let them see the beauty in all of it.

Unknown said...

Hope Bill is feeling better! Sounds like his body just gave up after the crazy hours.

I can't imagine explaining 911 to a 7 year old. I'm really surprised that they brought it up at school and I understand why would felt like you should have known first. It's hard to not keep the ulgy away from your innocent sweet boys.