Go, Mommy! Go! Row, Mommy, Row!

Last week, the kids and I joined the nearly half million fans on the banks of the Charles River for the 50th Annual Head of the Charles Regatta - the biggest two-day rowing event in the world. With 11,000 athletes competing, our focus was on one - their mom. 

On the docks at her boathouse, just shy of the 1-mile mark of the 3+ mile race, our oldest son climbed into a coaches launch and grabbed a giant blue megaphone and put it to work.

And when he flagged under the weight of it, his sister and friend propped it up (and took their turns shouting their heads off through it.)

Someone gave the rest of us cowbells to clang as our rowers passed.

You can see the high res video footage of her boat further down the course from the official race website at: http://www.hocr.org/the-regatta/live-webcast/ (choose event 45 and bow 12). Though I rather prefer this smartphone video caught by her father - 1) because you can see them passing the first of many crews they caught and passed en route to a silver medal finish, and 2) because you can hear the zeal of their cheering section.

I love that my kids get to watch their mom go for it (and CRUSH IT!) like this - all the more meaningful this year, which was about grit, as usual, but also about resilience, patience, recovery, and climbing back on the horse after an August bike accident that kept her off the water up until only three weeks before this race.

It is the kind of grit and go-for-it I hope for my daughter and all my kids find ways to access, and one of the reasons we enthusiastically support their engagement in sports and physical activities. Thank you for considering a gift to help me raise $7,000 for Dream Big! to advance their mission of providing those opportunities to girls from low-income and homeless situations via the Donate Now button at right or my Dream Big! Boston Marathon team fundraising page at: bit.ly/DreamBigSLanfer.