Grandma's Ninja Warrior Diary: The Kid Beats Me

 

We have a tenant downstairs in our house, and the tenant has a son. He is nine years old and treats us as his grandparents. We, in turn, treat him as a grandson.

So, I was astonished that he could not pull himself up on the chin-up bar that my husband had installed in our bedroom doorway so that I could get to the point of being able to do pull-ups, lots of the them. He was very weak yet a very active boy -- we walk about a mile each night together, with him scootering (well, I guess that is really not walking) and me running along beside him. He found the light weights I lift to be very heavy. I mean, we are only talking about 20 pounds.

Then, I was appalled to find out that gym is no longer part of elementary classrooms around here. Goodness, where do kids get their guidance in physical activities?

So, I interested him in a competition, using the bar. Who could get to do pull-ups sooner. He pulled in a kid visiting a neighbor for two weeks and vowed to do better than that kid. At first, the neighbor's visitor was better though he, too, could not pull himself all the way up even once.

So, Jayden kept trying and trying. Last night, he came to my office downtown just as I was closing up, bubbling in excitement. He could do pull-ups. More than one in a row!

He beat me! I am still working at it, but now I have a goal to catch up! My trainer promises me (not sure how she can do that) that I will be able to do the same in January. January sounds like pretty far away -- and way too soon!

We shall see what daily attempts to lead to in five months. Gotta have faith and endurance and continuing effort and and and and...

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

In Memoriam: Carl Don Leaver

Image
  1948-2021 It is with great sadness that MSI Press notes the death of Carl Leaver, CEO of the Press and typesetter and graphic designer par excellence . Many authors have expressed not only condolences but also a sense of legacy from covers he designed that they love.  Here is his obituary: On August 16, 2021, Carl Don Leaver of San Juan Bautista passed into eternal rest. A forester with the US Forest Service in Idaho and Montana, he turned to nature photography while working in the Bitterroot National Forest. His photographs graced national magazine covers and on a weekly basis the local paper of Hamilton, MT, the Ravalli Republican. He later worked on photography projects for the US Army (AFEES) and taught photography at the New York Institute of Technology in Amman, Jordan. His final career change led him to computer graphics and publishing as co-owner of MSI Press LLC; his many typeset books and book covers have helped MSI Press authors win a large number of awards over the years,
Read more

A Publisher's Conversation with Authors: Book Marketing vs Book Promotion

Image
It is Tuesday. Monday's madness is over, and Wednesday will take us over the hump, so Tuesday it is--for some serious discussion with authors. Tuesday talks mean to address authors in waiting and self-published authors who would like to go a more traditional route or who would at least like to take their steps with a publisher by their side.  Today's post looks at the difference between book marketing and book promotion, two terms that are frequently confused. Leading to the confusion is that some of the same activities are needed for both. In fact, good marketing is dependent upon good promotion. Perhaps the essential difference is that marketing focuses on sales, and promotion focuses on awareness --  noting that without awareness, sales generally do not happen. Book Marketing Book marketing includes promotion, sales, and increasing awareness of the availability of the book. It generally starts with a marketing plan that identifies the target audiences and selects marketing t
Read more