Since When Were Ranchers Jolly?

With just two days to go before the big race, my daughters are finishing up their training program for their kids marathon.

As I wrote previously, the kids marathon is one of the Martian Marathons races where children run or walk a total of 25 miles leading up to the race then run the final 1.2 miles on race day to finish their marathon. As my wife and I expected, there were many days where the girls moaned and groaned about doing their running.

However, their attitude got much better recently mainly due to two changes. The first was that I began offering them candy for good behavior. They earned a Jolly Rancher if they run without complaining and if they alternated between running and walking. I was shocked how quickly their attitude changed. I guess they share my love of sugar.

There are theories out there that if you offer extrinsic rewards for behaviors then it destroys any intrinsic motivation there may have been. (Extrinsic = external, like money or candy, intrinsic = internal, like warm fuzzies) The belief is that people think, "If they are willing to give me something for doing it, then really must not be that enjoyable". I don't disagree with the theory for the most part but sometimes people need some initial motivation to try a behavior that they will eventually find intrinsically rewarding. Take my older daughter for instance. She was running about a mile a day. One day she decided that she wanted to do two miles instead, even though she would receive no extra candy. Of course we heaped loads of congratulations on her to reinforce the behavior.

The other change was that the weather began to get nicer, allowing us to escape the treadmill in the basement and walk/run around the block. Once we were able to do that I really didn't have to promise them the candy at all. Maybe it wasn't the walking and running they didn't like, just the treadmill.

I just hope that someday one or more of my children will come to me and ask me if I want to go running with them. Of course, I may have to have a pocket full of Jolly Ranchers just in case.

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My idea of a perfect food is something crunchy smothered with butter, chocolate and peanut butter, tossed in more sugar. Can you go wrong?

Muddy Buddies

9 cups Rice Chex®, Corn Chex® or Chocolate Chex® cereal (or combination)
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Directions

Measure cereal into a large bowl and set aside.

In 1-quart microwavable bowl, microwave chocolate chips, peanut butter and butter uncovered on High 1 minute; stir. Microwave about 30 seconds longer or until mixture can be stirred smooth. Stir in vanilla. Pour mixture over cereal, stirring until evenly coated. Pour into 2-gallon resealable food-storage plastic bag.

Add powdered sugar. Seal bag; shake until well coated. Spread on waxed paper to cool. Store in airtight container in refrigerator. Hide it from the kids or you'll regret it.