Running with Kids

        Running with the kiddos. Good, right? eh..well...most of the time. Okay, sometimes....like when the ones who aren't forced to go don't come and when there's minimal complaining & whining. I have been taking the kiddos (any and all but the youngest two) out on runs (sometimes because the other adults need it and sometimes because they like it). 

        These "runs" (sometimes there's more walking involved than running) last anywhere between 20 minutes to an hour. My goal is to get the kiddos outside and moving around and teach them the "rules" of trails...like keeping to right and not touching someone's dog unless they ask. And how to back up slowly when you see a moose (which they haven't seen on a trail yet).

    So the other day four of the kiddos went out for a run with me. I was late afternoon and icy and two of them were just wearing hoodies (granted, we've been having a bit of a heat wave here. and we were running). We were about a mile from home when I heard J start wailing "Mommy! Mommy!" from behind. I turned around to see that his nose was spewing blood. Everywhere. So, like any good Alaskan mom, I dug through the snow on the side of the trail to find some snow that looked "clean-ish" and packed it onto his face. Then tossed it on the ground as it grew red. I repeated this process a few times before giving up. My next decision was to use the sleeve of my hoodie. But the blood just. kept. coming. So we stood there for what felt like forever as I was trying to stop the bleeding and call another adult (none of whom answered their phones. Fantastic.) 

        Since we were only a mile from home, so we started walking back, three girls in front & me with my arm around J’s face (because my sleeve was still attached to his face). I finally decided that walking with J like that was uncomfortable, slow and…someone could mistake it for me taking a kid against their will. None of this was beneficial to us getting home quicker, so I ended up just taking off my hoodie & giving it to him for a massive handkerchief. On our trek back, we started finding a blood trail-a consistent pattern of fresh blood droplets which means J's nose must've been "just dripping" and he had to have been wiping it away. I think the gushing is what panicked him enough to draw my attention to it. 

         A few minutes (it seemed like 20) later one of the adults finally found a phone & remembered how to use it. I explained the situation, my concern for 1.bleeding child losing too much blood and 2.walking instead of running = cold kids {since 2 were just wearing hoodies}. Someone "rescued" us about half a mile out and brought us home, but not before we noticed that J’s nosebleed had started at least half a mile back. Oops. 

          So these are the types of adventures that I willingly subject myself to several times a week. Because I'm crazy like that. And...let's face it-the kids need it too.

                My crew!