By Heather Cabot, The Well Mom
When Brianna Grant laces up her sneakers and hits the road, she returns home with a clear head.

“The days I manage to run are my strongest, smoothest days,” she says.  The mom of a 4-year-old son and 16-month-old daughter wasn’t always a runner.  The former teacher says she uncovered her inner athlete 5 years ago when she coached a group of third grade girls in an after school program. 

“The enthusiasm and encouragement of these girls, along with thesupportive nature of the running community, drove me to cross thefinish line of my first marathon (with my husband!) in 2003,” says the 29-year-old.

With her newfound passion and her first child on the way, she decided to write a children’s book about running to inspire young girls and their moms to give it a try.

“We Are Girls Who Love to Run / Somos Chicas Y a Nosotras Nos Encanta Correr is my way of reaching out to girls who are seeking their own life balance. It allows me to cheer for girls as they discover their inner strength through running,” explains Grant who lives outside Seattle.

The book, illustrated by the talented Nicholas A. Wright, was published with the help of Grant’s mom and co-founder of their business Balanced Steps.  Along with bright images of spirited girls, it features affirmations about the sense of well-being and accomplishment running can bring. 

“I am strong. My body becomes more flexible as I run.  My mind sharpens and my spirit soars,” the narrator of “We Are Girls Who Love to Run” tells her audience.

The 750 word picture book has won praise from some elite members of the running world including, Olympic medalist Deena Kastor and Katherine Switzer, the first woman to officially run the Boston Marathon.

“I want girls (and their moms – who are really girls at heart!) to get a sense of their inner strengths and embrace themselves for who they are. This world that we’re a part of is so fast-paced that it is easy to get caught up in the whirlwind of negativity and self-doubt. It is my hope that the positive statements and uplifting illustrations serve as reminders that sometimes the greatest joys in life come from the most simple acts we make with our families and friends,” Grant told me.

Of course, it isn’t easy to lace up and head out the door when running hasn’t been a part of your life.  So I asked Grant for some tips on how mothers and daughters can start to integrate running and exercise, in general, into their routines.  For moms, the key is how to introduce the idea without nudging.  Here is some of her advice:

1. Make physical activities part of your family plan, even if it is just a post-dinner walk in the evenings for starters.

2. Set a personal fitness goal and invite your daughter to help YOU as a cheerleader, a workout buddy, and a co-menu-planner and co-chef! Goals for your daughter can develop naturally out of this – following HER lead and identifying the choices she gravitates toward. Maybe running isn’t your daughter’s thing…explore some other activities together and see what ignites her interest and let her get involved within reason.
 
3. Explore programs, including Girls on the Run in which girls interact with peers and have some self-esteem building games and discussions. Many schools or community centers offer some after-school short session exploratory classes that introduce kids to various sports and hobbies. These are great resources and opportunities that can help turn the nagging into an encouraging nudge. Small, non-competitive groups like these can take off the pressure. Girl-only groups are also helpful in providing girls with a “safer” environment to explore their interests. Organizations like the Women’s Sports Foundation’s GoGirlGo! can help parents find the right match for their daughters.

By Heather Cabot, The Well Mom
It was a pale pink baseball cap that quashed my last bit of optimism for Hillary Clinton’s chances.  A few weeks ago, my husband returned home from a DC work trip bearing what he thought was a just a cute souvenir from the airport – a pastel Hillary Clinton hat embroidered in girly white script. I couldn’t help but think as I took it out of the bag that 1. It would soon become a relic as the race for the Democratic nomination draws to a close and 2. Princess-y pink signifies everything that’s wrong with the way some people will portray this contest when we pass the story on to our daughters.

I’m disappointed for Clinton personally. You’d have to be really callous not to feel something for this woman who put so much of her life, political capital and personal finances on the line. She’s wanted this deep in her bones for a long time. The candidate displayed a formidable grasp of the nuts and bolts of the problems and policies Americans like myself really care about. I thought her wonk-ishness was admirable. I bristled when I read misogynistic descriptions of her as “shrill” or “playing the victim.” But as I ruminated about this on the eve of the Oregon and Kentucky primaries last month, I felt sure that (pink campaign swag aside), this race did not turn on gender.  Now that she has dropped out, I still feel sure.  Truth is, Barack Obama is a worthy and charismatic opponent. And he ran a stronger campaign. This is what I will tell my daughter when we talk about it in years to come. My precious Samantha is only two years old today – just learning to express herself (No! Mommy!) and curious about everything around her. I’m certain, one day, when we talk about her hopes and dreams, the topic of Hillary will make its way into our conversations.

Watching this roller coaster of a race with a newish mother’s eye, I’ve been thrilled to imagine the possibilities for my toddler and her generation. But before all of the Monday morning quarterbacking starts in a couple of weeks, I believe we mothers (and fathers), need to affirm that we’ll make a concerted effort to build on this chapter in American history to encourage young women to be anything they want to be…and to pursue their aspirations in a way that does not apologize nor exploit their femaleness. We have an opportunity to frame this contest for what it is — not a defeat for women (because I do believe this country is ready for a woman to be Commander in Chief)…but a bold move in the direction of possibility for girls.

As author Susan Faludi wrote on the NYT Op-Ed page in May, “When a woman does ascend through the glass ceiling into the White House, it will be, in part, because of the race of 2008, when Hillary Clinton broke through the glass floor and got down with the boys.”

When we look back on this time, I’ll tell my daughter that Hillary Clinton didn’t fight like a man. She fought like a tough contender. And like anything in life, you give it your best shot — sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. In this case, the apparent loss is actually a victory for gender equity.

So, now that she’s suspended her campaign and thrown her support behind Senator Obama, I’ll put that Hillary ball cap away and save it for little Samantha. I’ll dig it out when she’s in 3rd or 4th grade memorizing Presidents and state capitals. And we’ll start the conversation that will likely stretch into adulthood. It may be pink, but to me it symbolizes progress and infinite potential.