Running and playing

I headed over to school the other day to help Bright Eyes cope with the practice for cross country running that the whole school is doing three times a week. He didn't want to run, stretch or participate in any way and looked as miserable as he could be for the full half hour. I did get him to walk twice around the oval holding my hand (with a rest stop in the middle) but it was a pretty torturous task. I have no idea why it was so hard for him. You'd think he hated running or something!

It was a completely different story this evening, when we went out to a local campsite to meet old youth group friends. Coincidentally in the very next camp were four children he knows from school, including one he plays with almost every day. It was absolutely delightful to see him running around and around with the children, playing games with the bigger kids and yelling to each other. 

"Look! He's really playing," said my friend as we sat and watched. We saw his friend come looking for him, seeking him out to play. The two of them didn't stop running for a full half an hour.

I'm going to use the cross country running practice time for RDI rather than make him miserable. Obviously he can run, but something about doing it in a big group around the oval is just too much for him right now. Both I and the teacher would rather he had a happy start to his day.