One of my favorite things to do as a mom is the "kid-date". And the great thing about kid-dates is that my kids seem to enjoy them almost as much as their parents do. Since we moved up to AK I began to notice that we needed some quality one-on-one time with our kids and thus the kid-date began. The dates have ranged from the mundane to the rather extravagant (at least for us) and have all been a blast. Dan and I usually split up and each of us has a special date with one of our two children (another benefit of having just two!). For instance, when Lena and I went to see Broadway's Beauty and the Beast, Dan took Eli to the Porsche, Audi, and BMW dealerships. Both dates were perfectly suited to each couple and were a terrific success. Another date involved Eli taking me out to dinner and then to his school dance where we rocked the chicken dance, Mexican hat dance, heel-toe polka, etc. Meanwhile, little Lena and her dad had hot cocoa, played Barbies (Dan is seriously the best dad ever) and watched Barbie movies together while snuggling on the blue chair (did you catch what phase our 5 yr old is going through?). So why am I posting about this? Because kid-dates are so worth it. I want you to read this and feel like, "Yeah! What the heck? How does tomorrow night look?". I also have it here in writing in the hopes that I will never get too busy to remember how important these are to my kids. I love our date conversations, letting them have control over the music, and letting them know I truly care about them and what they are going through. So I hope to hear about your favorite kid-date ideas and how you squeeze them into your busy lives. Now get out there and enjoy!
So I have decided to start taking responsibility for my own life. I am horribly out of shape. I don't mean this as a comparison to anyone out there, this is purely about the "now" me vs. the "ready for anything" me. And I have picked the perfect time to do it. I am sick. Right now as I type I am turning to the side frequently and coughing like someone who has inhaled pepper off their broccoli (long story...another post...maybe). You may be thinking this is currently inadvisable but you'd be wrong. At least in my case that would be an incorrect assumption. You see, after my mother had amazing child #5 she felt the way I do, kinda frumpy and like your body is no longer taking its orders from you, so she started working out.
This was in the late 80's when women had giant hair, way too much eye make-up, and occasionally wore their leotards and leggings to the store (with a matching skinny belt, of course). This is when my mom bravely embarked upon her "work-out every day!" campaign. Every morning (or afternoon or evening occasionally when life and it's surprises would mess with her schedule) I would hear Bess Motta cooing encouraging instructions ad she encouraged you to do "4-more...". And when that incredible 20-min workout got boring to do every single day my mom found other exercises and wrote up her routines on gigantic pieces of school paper that she tacked up on a wall in our garage. Whenever I hear the Police, an image of my mom smiling and running in place with her arms flying springs instantly to mind. And despite our giggles and laughter at how funny some of the exercises appeared or how when she tried to do jumping jacks or leg lifts we kids (truthfully the littler ones as I was already 8 and way to mature) ran and dove through her kicking legs for ninja training, she persevered. Not only did she accomplish her goal, she taught her family many important lessons as well. She taught us not to give up. She taught us that you can ignore and even laugh along with people when they laugh at you. She taught us that just 20-min of exercise a day could lead to a feeling of accomplishment no matter how the rest of the day went (you can't control everything, right?). She taught us that taking care of our bodies and staying healthy (even after you have babies and things don't line up or work quite like they used to) was really important and fun. I am so thankful for her example. So that is why I am turning over a new leaf. No more waiting for the planets to align for me to say, "Enough is enough! If I don't start now then when?". And no better time to do so than the worst possible time, like now, when I am sick and overscheduled. I have done my first workout today. I have bid my chocolate stash farewell. I have even kicked my hot sauce habit cold turkey (again, long story for another day). So hip hip hooray for Day 1 of taking responsibility for my own health and fitness. I always had the control, I just needed to remember the lessons from my mom.
Here's a link I used to do my mom's old workout on YouTube. It's a classic.
ps - My mom worked out every day even when sick. It took serious illnesses (such as a really bad flu or pneumonia) to keep her down. I asked her why she still worked out when she was sick with a cold or cough and she would tell me that it helped get her better faster. So I am putting that advice to the test. We'll see how it goes. Either I will be better or I will have pneumonia next week :)
pps - I love you moim!
Or maybe I should have called this "blogging made easier". Now I can blog from my phone which is what I use for a camera now anyway. So now begins my renaissance. I don't know if one can have a renaissance after only a year but it sure feels like one to me.
Hang tight cause I have a few posts I am dying to write.
