Do Kids EVER Listen to Their Parents?

I'm a parent of two children.  My son is 10 and my daughter is 12 and let me just say that if there's one thing I know, it's that I never know what's going to come my way next when it comes to my kids.  Unpredictable? You bet!  Just when I think I know what to expect, bam! One of my kids makes a request or says something so out of the blue that it has my mind completely boggled.

Case in point, my daughter, who's favorite activity is reading and definitely not sports or exercising, blew my mind this morning when she called me at work.  When I was told that she was on the phone for me, the first thing that ran through my head was, "What does she want to borrow?"  Kids always want something right?  Not today.  She asked me if we could go running together after she got out of school.  I was SPEECHLESS!  I tried not to make a big deal out of it because I knew that might put the stop on whatever inspired her to come up with this very out of character request.  I did have to ask her though, what inspired her to come up with this idea and she claimed ignorance.  Hmmm.  I'm not sure that's actually the case but who cares as long as she's interested in actually moving.

Now as much as I would love to be a huge inspiration for healthy eating and exercise in my children's lives, I have recently accepted the fact that my kids almost never act on my suggestions or advice.  In fact, they usually go the opposite way just because they can.  I guess as long as they're listening to others who have good information to share, that will have to be enough and I always try to remember the sage words of parents I know with grown children who always say, "They'll turn out just fine."