Blabbermouth

Thanks to my new IPod and the This American Life and The Moth podcasts, I’m running again. I’ve never really considered myself a “runner” – though I went through a phase when I first moved here of running 4 to 5 days a week and running 10Ks on the weekend, that phase has been over for a long time. I have no interest in ever running a marathon, and I’m one of those people who kind of dreads the run until I’m about halfway in. Plus, ever since Charlie was born, working out is just not the priority it used to be.

I say all of this to set the stage for where I am as I embark on this new running habit.  The plan is that shortly after Charlie and I get up on Saturday and Sunday, I buckle him in the jog stroller and we head out.   I have a good 4 1/2 mile path and another 3 1/2 mile loop, and I’m trying to do both each weekend. For a  non-runner like me, 4 1/2 miles is PLENTY, but add to that pushing a 30-some pound child in a stroller and I’m huffing and puffing by 10 minutes in. That’s where the podcasts come in; listening to stories on my IPod keeps me distracted and entertained.

Meanwhile, Charlie is talking - not just now and then, but pretty much the WHOLE time. He announces every stop sign we see, asks to see “bayoons” (we jogged past some balloons tied to someone’s mailbox once), calls out the triangles (yield signs) and diamonds (caution signs), says hi to the bikers, and asks me 100 questions in his little voice. Often, I only wear one headphone so I can hear him out of the other ear, but still, at least once on every run, I have to stop and get in front of him so I can hear what he says. Because the kid knows if I’m just saying “mmm-hmm” and not really hearing/answering him, and he’ll just keep asking me the same question over and over again until I provide a real answer.  Half the time, I have to catch my breath just to answer him. I know we worried for a long time about the fact that he didn’t talk, but I have to admit, sometimes on these runs I really wish for a few moments of quiet. Oh well,  I guess he’s doing his best to make up for  lost time!