Children never stop. We invited Tom, a super daily walker, to tell us about his everyday adventures. In the first episode of our saga, he described his typical day. At 9 years of age, you walk without thinking about it —or almost!
Hello, my name is Tom. I am nine years old.
Last week, my parents asked me if I wanted to join in an experiment for Decathlon: counting my steps for one day. My father monitors the distance he covers all the time on his phone so I was hoping to use this as an argument for convincing my parents to buy me one. However, they bought me a pedometer. It's a kind of small watch that can be fastened like a keyring and it counts my steps. OK, it's not as good as a phone but it's still quite cool.
I therefore decided to describe my first day with my pedometer!
Mummy will soon be coming to wake me up. At 7:20am on the dot. She enjoys her quiet cup of coffee in the kitchen before coming. I usually pretend to be sleeping but, today, I'm hungry. I rush to grab a bowl of cereal making a detour to the living room to get my comic.At mummy's place, I'm not allowed to use the tablet in the morning. I'm not in too much of a hurry to get dressed and brush my teeth.
By 8 am, when mum says, "Tom, hurry up, we'll be late,"
I've already covered a good 100 m. But naturally, you've seen nothing yet.
→ 200 steps
Mummy tells me that today we will be walking to school to take care of our health. I agree on the condition that she carries my satchel. Since my school teacher set up the "flexible classroom" system, we no longer have any lockers and I have to carry all my belongings.
On the way, I come across my great friends, Léo, Camille and Marion. We walk ahead while our mothers chat. We get there ahead of time given that we save the 10 minutes that are usually wasted trying to find a parking space.
→ 3,300 steps
The numbers on my pedometer are not changing much. I am in a geography lesson this morning. I ask if I can go to the toilet to walk a little. I try to imagine how many steps it would take to walk to Tokyo, the capital of Japan, to see the Olympic games.
My pedometer has super powers, it switches on by itself as soon as I start walking, I just have to leave it on my belt and make sure that my friends don't press on the button to reset it.
→ 3,450 steps
After break time, when I played football with my friends. Now it's time for my maths lesson with Mrs Rousselle.
I really like maths. It's easy. My grandfather said that it's like a game. Given that I finish before everyone else, I have fun converting the distances into steps. The most complicated step is measuring your stride length.
Grandad advised me to count the number of steps that it takes me to cross the living room in a straight line. Given that the living room is 5 m wide, I just have to divide 5 by my number of steps to calculate my stride length. I try to explain this to Marion but it seems like she doesn't want to listen.
→ 5,150 steps (2.5km!)
I'm one of the first to arrive at the school canteen so that I can get to the library as quickly as possible. I came across Lucie and Victor to continue reading the adventures of a superhero.
We thought about the super powers we would like to have. For Victor, it was invisibility and, for Lucie, It was being able to pass through walls. As for me, I remembered that my mum told me that I was a super walker. Consequently, I already have one!
I am a super walker that can walk without stopping and without getting tired! With my pedometer and my new shoes that help me walk faster!
I played basketball for five minutes in the playground to increase the numbers on my pedometer more quickly.
→ 5,400 steps
I am behind schedule on the day's homework. Once again, my parents will tell me that all I think about is football. So I concentrate on my French exercises.
Today, I am preparing my dictation. It is a story about a boy who is cultivating a vegetable patch with his grandfather and they discover some magic vegetables. I really like vegetables except for the green ones like cucumber or lettuce. With a bit of luck, I might not get any this evening: I am sleeping at daddy's place! He's not too keen on preparing complicated meals and when he does, he says that we do not do justice to his fine cooking skills.
→ 6,130 steps
Let's get started! We play tag. I took Nathan and Enzo in my team, as well as Emma. She's the best catcher in the school. In Martin's team, there are two Year 6s, however we are better.
I did a lot of running and walking without even thinking about it. I didn't even look at my pedometer.
→ 7,050 steps
Dad arrives early when there are not many of us left, however my dad is nice and he waits for us on a bench, reading. He tells me that we will be leaving in 5 minutes, but forgets afterwards because he is so engrossed in his book. Meanwhile, I make the most of the opportunity to play footie against a wall with my remaining friends, those whose parents work. All of a sudden, dad remembers that we have nothing left to eat and that the discount store is closing at 7 pm. So I score a final goal and say goodbye to my friends.
→ 9,000 steps
We always walk when we go shopping because dad doesn't have a car. I think that he votes for the Green Party but, above all, he says that cars are too expensive and that he cannot afford one since he left his job to become a writer. Every Tuesday we go to Mrs Grinou's supermarket where the shopping is cheap. Mrs Grinou is kind. Dad complains about the weight of my satchel. He says that it isn't good for my back. He wants to buy me one with wheels, but for me, they are only for the young children.
→ 10,500 steps
We walk home with the shopping. Dad has a bad back and he carries the satchel and the shopping bags. Then I encourage him by showing him my pedometer as well as the distance between the shop and the flat. He says that he has surely walked less than me, given that his day was spent at front of a computer.
→ 13,811 steps!
I do my homework and have my shower before dinner. Dad makes some home-made hot dogs. They taste so good. He lets me watch the highlights of the previous evening's match on YouTube. Then we make a note of my daily distance on his computer: 14,000 steps is equivalent to about 7 km, which is the distance between here and my mum's place! Dad congratulates me and encourages me to continue. We will start again tomorrow, it's fun and I am quite proud of my first day with a pedometer.
Meanwhile, it's almost 9 pm, I'm going to read in my bed. Good night!
→ 14,020 steps!
This is a fictional story. Any similarity with your family is purely coincidental. But, like the parents of Tom, don't hesitate to get your children interested in their healthy sports activity! And encourage them to tell you about their exploits.
See you very soon with Tom to discover his latest adventures.