The Case of the Lost Kayanos

My 11-year-old TBR Jr. came home from school two weeks ago with good news. They had a test in PE that day and he and his classmates were made to run laps around the field. Everyone completed six laps. He was the only one who ran seven.

I could hardly contain my joy! I exclaimed: Wow, you’re such a fast runner!

He stared back at me blankly and said: It wasn’t about speed, Mama. It was about endurance.

Whoops, my bad.  What was I thinking?!

The following day, TBR Jr. arrived home with even better news. During PE, they were made to run sprints. He came first in the entire class!

This time, I was so overwhelmed with excitement that I took his hand and practically rushed out the door to the nearest running store. His Mizuno shoes were due for replacement anyway and I felt this was the perfect time to replace them.

At Runnr, we stood in front of all the colorful shoes lined up on the shelves. I whispered: Choose any shoe you like. It’s your reward.

Out of all the brands and models, The Bull Runner’s son picked only one shoe: Asics Gel Kayano. (Yes, he’s got taste!)   Runnr didn’t have his size, but I do know the good ol’ people at Asics so I managed to buy a pair directly from the warehouse by day’s end.

I took out the Kayanos from the box, presented it to my son, and went on and on about what a great pair of shoes it was.  How it was one of the best running shoes.  How a lot of runners pined for that shoe and here he was fortunate enough to have it.  How he should maximize it and start running more.  He listened intently.

The following day, he packed the shoes in his bag for PE.  He used his brand spankin’ new Kayanos during class for the first time.  But…oh boy, here we go…when he got home from school, it was nowhere to be found. He had accidentally left it in the waiting area.

The Kayanos have not made their presence felt since their disappearance last week (neither has the guy who probably took it! Rawr!)  I’ve been praying the shoes pop up at the Lost and Found, but all hope is dwindling.  It seems like I’ll have to buy him another pair soon (unless I want my son to squeeze his feet into his tight Mizuno’s and have all his toenails die like mine.)  Sigh.

As for my TBR Jr., we had to teach him about responsibility and we found a way for him to make up for the loss.  A portion of the cost will be taken out of his savings and he has to shine everyone’s shoe until the end of the year.

Just between you and me though, if he comes home next week and tells me he came in first in a race among classmates, I just may do cartwheels and forget about those lost Kayanos!