How To Workout With Kids

Being a Mom of small children means that quite often, you get little-to-no time to yourself in a day.  It is quite possible that the first time you have time without a little one attached to you might be when your husband gets home from work.  Or maybe, just maybe, you can finagle it so that you have time to yourself in the bathroom. (How many of you have been on the toilet while holding a little one?)  But that could be cut short by yelling and screaming…

So how, if you can barely squeeze in things you need to do, can you ever squeeze in things you want to do?  There are days when things are so crazy that if all the kids are napping at one time, I have to spend that time cleaning.  Or maybe I didn’t sleep well the night before because Irina wanted to eat and snuggle all night… then nap time for the kids means nap time for me as well.

I really do want to start working out again regularly, but I can’t always squeeze it into alone time.  Last summer I was working out every day at home, and the kids were almost always awake and in the same room with me when I did.  I just started working out again today, and was wondering how things would go…

(Yes, he likes to lift weights in his underwear… he does things the old school way).

There are a couple things to keep in mind when trying to work out with kids around:

1. Be flexible. Literally. You will have kids trying to jump on you while you’re doing a sit-up. Or maybe trying to grab your leg for a free ride while doing a lunge. Just keep reminding them of when that is okay to do, and be ready to pause suddenly to keep from stepping on toes.

2. Be Flexible. Figuratively. If you are doing an exercise in which it is safe for them to tunnel back and forth through your legs, let them! What’s the harm? Today when I was lying on my back doing arm workouts, Elijah thought it a good time to come up and shake my tummy. Not flattering at all, but otherwise totally fine. So I let him. He thought it was hilarious. (So did I really).

3. Be Patient. You will most likely have to remind them to stay off of you and let you work out for a few days before it kicks in. Maybe even 2 weeks of working out every day. But then, when they finally understand and obey, you will be able to workout at home!

4. Include them! My kids love trying the exercises too. As you are doing jumping jacks, ask your kids if they can do it too. A simple invitation usually inspires them to participate!

5. Have Fun! So long as you are getting tired, you are accomplishing your goal. Who cares if you took a giggle break? So what if you deviated from the DVD and did squat & punch for longer than normal because your kids were doing it and loving it?

6. Remember the example you are setting. It is great for your kids to see you active and having fun. Remember in a few years it might not be so easy to get them to go outside and play and be active. But if you like to do it, and they have seen you do it for years, it just may be a tad easier to convince them.

Locks Of Love

I did it.  The hair is gone.  It will soon be on its way to Locks of Love. Until then, it is just sitting on my bathroom counter… ready and waiting to disconcert me every time I walk in the bathroom.

Nick helped to cut my hair, this was a first for him. He did not enjoy it. But did it because he loves me, and I couldn’t very well cut the back of my hair myself! I cut the front, and attempted some layers.

I realized that having little extra cash around the house lately doesn’t mean I have to ignore charities. There are plenty of ways to give, even if you don’t have the money. And with a brand new baby and 2 toddlers, sometimes volunteering time isn’t always an option either. But Locks of Love is easy for anyone who has 10 inches (or more) of hair to cut off! I love that they have directions on their website so you can participate without even going to a hair stylist.

What are some ways to give without even leaving your home? This mom-of-three would like some ideas!

Children Are A Blessing…

I have never been a fan of difficult conversations.  I have never even been a fan of conversations where people *might* disagree.  I also don’t like when people push their ideas of how things should be done onto me.

Because of this I dread Doctor’s visits.  I dread the kids’ pediatrician visits because I don’t see eye-to-eye with the Pediatrician about vaccines.  So it comes up every visit.  Ugh.  I dread the 6 week post-partum check-up because most Doctor’s do not understand our family’s position on Birth Control.  I don’t want to feel like I have to fight/justify my stance after every child I have.

With every child, I have seen a different Doctor.

With Elijah, I was asked if I wanted Birth Control.  I said no.  The response was “Oh, I totally understand- a lot of people want their 2 children close together so they can be good playmates and so you can get the labor/pregnancy thing out of the way early on.”  No, I don’t think you DO understand.

With Elena, I was asked if I wanted Birth Control.  I said no.  The response was (in an authoratative, snotty, tone) “What are you going to do then??? You can’t just breastfeed.  You DO realize that is NOT effective birth control, right?”  ”Yes,  I do understand that, thank you.”  ”Well, then, you better prepare yourself to be pregnant VERY SOON, because it will happen.”  ”Thank you, I am fine with that.”   “Really?  Just how many kids do you want?!?”

With Irina, I was asked if I wanted Birth Control.  I said no.  The response was “Children are a Blessing, right?”

Big sigh of relief.  Finally a Doctor who understands me!  I can’t tell you how happy that makes me.  I don’t want to have to defend my beliefs every time I go to the Doctor.  I don’t want to have to hear their schpeel about how I am ruining my body, how it’s not healthy, how I don’t know what I’m getting into, or whatever.

This is a decision of Faith, not Ignorance.  And it’s really nice to have that decision respected.

Dinosaurs

Elijah has become quite interested in Dinosaurs recently.  He is also the sort of child who wants to know all their names, then memorizes them and what they look like so you can never get away with making up Dinosaur names ever.

This doesn’t bother me though, because thanks to my brother David, I have a solid base of Dinosaur knowledge to draw from.  Oh yes, I know the regulars like T-Rex, Stegosaurus, Triceratops, Brontosaurus, Pterodactyl, and even know some of the less well known ones like the Allosaurus, Velociraptor, and Ankylosaurus.

Or so I thought.  First I find out (a while ago), that scientists believe the Brontosaurus was actually a combination of multiple Dinosaurs.  So they split it up into 3- the Brontosaurus, Apatosaurus, and the Brachiosaurus.But then, I was watching a Dinosaur movie with Elijah and it all centered around what looked very much like a Pteradactyl.  However, they kept calling it a Pterosaur.  What is this now?  Is this some sort of scientific change they made?

But this one, this one takes the cake.  I cannot believe they are doing this to us.  They now are speculating that Triceratops and Torosaurs are one and the same.  Yes, that’s right, they are now saying that Triceratops may never have existed.  This is more than I can take.  What are they going to tell us next?  That a T-Rex is just an Allosaurus whose front limbs never fully matured?

A Time To Honor

— This is part of a group of posts on a specific thing in your upbringing that you are thankful for, that Erin is hosting on her blog. Go there to find the links to everyone else participating! —

As I sit here awaiting the arrival of baby #3, I am thinking about parenting. Parenting is such a heavy task when you really think about it. We have been given the honor to raise, nurture, and help little ones grow up to be wonderful, God-fearing people. What an awesome responsibility. It can be kind of daunting if you let yourself really think about it.Because of that, I am so thankful to have parents of my own whose decisions in parenting I honor and respect. I can look back on my own childhood, reflect how my parents raised me, and implement that in my own life as a parent now.

I know there are many people out there who have serious disagreements with their parents over how they were raised. I am not one of those people. I actually have a hard time thinking of ways I do not appreciate how I was raised. Does that mean I will duplicate everything my parents did? No, most likely not. But I see the wisdom in their decisions, and how it fit so well and worked so well for our family.

One thing in particular that strikes me over and over again is the area of discipline. It was not the particular form of discipline my parents used (in fact they used many!), but rather the consistent insistence that we always understand why we were being disciplined. We were never given an easy pass like a quick sorry and on with your game. My parents both would talk with us about why it was that what we had done was wrong. And not only that, as we got older, the talks became longer and longer because we were expected to come to those conclusions on our own. No more were we just told why something was wrong. We were asked to think about it. We were asked to come back when we had a reasonable answer. We had to use our brains.

I respect this approach so much because it taught us children to never do anything mindlessly or impulsively. Not to say that we didn’t still sometimes… but it was an invaluable piece of training I am so glad my parents gave to me. I hope I can be as effective and consistent at implementing it with my own children!

Parenting Tag Team

You know what I am very thankful for?  My wonderful husband who has been taking care of things while I had the stomach flu.  I can’t imagine being sick, with two toddlers, 10 days away from my due date, and having him gone at work even.  Funny how you can be thankful for things like unemployment!

I am also thankful that there are 2 of us around here.  We can take turns with things when need be.  Since I was able to sleep most of the day (yesterday AND today- spoiled!) and recuperate, I am now feeling pretty good.  JUST in time for Nick to go and get sick.  And while I am sad he got what I had, I am very thankful we didn’t have it at the same time.  Because now I am well enough to take care of him!

Now I just hope that all of this sickness passes before the baby decides to come.  I doubt she will be this early, if she is early at all.  So now we will just concentrate on getting healthy so once she does decide to come everyone is feeling great!

P.S. Contractions + Stomach Flu is a weird feeling… so confusing to the body! Sit through the contraction? Or head to the bathroom? Uhhh…?

The Art of Discussion

Do you ever catch yourself paying a compliment that has a downside to it?  You know the ones I am talking about, those pesky “comparative compliments”.  

Ones like these:

• You look so much better than you did yesterday!
• You did great out there today, really crushed the other team!
• You have a real talent for that subject, much more natural than so-and-so.

Now maybe you don’t have a problem with this.  But I catch myself doing it, and hear it around me all the time.  Why do we feel the need to put someone else down in order to lift up another?

This same concept can sneak it’s way into our discussions with friends (or the blog world).  We like to talk about our viewpoint, share our opinions, whatnot.  Sometimes however, we share them in the same comparative manner as the above examples.  We don’t just state the positives for why we believe what we believe, or why we practice what we practice.  We like to state why we don’t do something else.  We like to say what we think is wrong with the other side.

I’m not saying we should never talk about the negatives of particular beliefs or practices.  But how many times do we think we are putting something forward “in love” or just “simply stating an opinion”, yet in doing so we completely slam the other side?

Here are some examples of what I am talking about:

•  “Yes, we do not practice coming forward for communion because it is a very Catholic thing to do”. (Judgement- if Catholics do it, it is wrong)
• “I don’t let my baby cry-it-out, that’s torture!” (Judgement- people who do are torturing their babies)
• “I spank my kids, I don’t want them to turn out to be undisciplined little kids” (Judgement- those who don’t spank automatically have undisciplined kids)
• “I homeschool my kids, it’s the biblical approach.” (Judgement- those who practice differently are NOT approaching things biblically, otherwise they would be homeschooling- DUH!)

I’m not sure if I’m making my point well, but I have just noticed how easy it is to slip into putting the other side down instead of just making a case for your own side.

How would you guys re-word the above examples to make them less judgmental of the other side, but still putting forth your opinion?

How can we talk about the potential negatives of a different viewpoint without being judgmental?

Student becomes the Teacher

There once was a Latin student who was rarely wrong.  This student worked hard, studied hard, and memorized all the vocabulary.

One day in class, the student was translating some text out loud for everyone.  The teacher was pleased with the translation, but noticed one mistake.

“Great work, but that should be a passive verb, not active.”

The student’s face froze. The teacher chuckled a little on the inside. The student -who is rarely wrong- can’t handle being corrected, thought the teacher. Ah well, it is good for the student.

However, the next thing out of the student’s mouth made the teacher’s inward chuckling stop.

“Actually, I don’t think it is passive. It’s a deponent verb.”

Yet again, the student had studied properly. Even more properly than the teacher. And now it was the students turn to chuckle at the look on the teacher’s face.

Note: This is a true story.  And I am the teacher.  And the student is my brother.  

Donations

Today I got a call from my Alma Mater.  They wanted money.  Now, I love my Alma Mater, and would give them money… if I had extra after all the other things on the list waiting for money.  But this conversation irritated me.  Know when to end the conversation already!

Caller:  We are looking for community support to help keep cost down for our students.  I am looking for you to make a donation of $XXX.

Me: I am really sorry, but I honestly don’t have extra money right now.  I can’t help you.

Caller: I completely understand.  How about a more modest amount of $XX?

Me: You know, I really mean it when I say I have no extra money.  I can’t help you out right now.

Caller:  I completely understand.  How about a more modest amount of $XX?

Me: You know what?  I know you have a script you’re supposed to follow or whatever, but I mean it when I say I have no extra money, I am not lying to you!

—-GEE WHIZ.  Just because I graduated from their college doesn’t mean I have a buttload of money.  And you know what?  I don’t feel like I should have to explain my current situation to them in order for them to stop “negotiating” a donation from ME!—-

Nursery Rhymes

I read a post over at Metropolitan Mama recently about Nursery Rhymes.  She doesn’t like them, and decided to throw their book out.  This got me thinking about Nursery Rhymes in general, and whether I am okay with them or not.  (This is not a blanket endorsement of all nursery rhymes, maybe Metropolitan Mama had a book filled with particularly horrid ones that had no point or moral).

The short answer?  Yes, I am okay with them.

The longer answer?  Most Nursery Rhymes have very physical consequences to the choices people make.  This seems to really scare people.  Really, he got beaten?  He got eaten?  He DIED?!?!  I don’t want my child thinking that could happen to them!!!

My question is, why is it so bad if they think it might happen to them?  Is a little bit of fear of physical consequences really that bad?  I mean, it’s hard to “reason” with small children.  Maybe fear of getting hurt is what keeps them making good choices until they are old enough to understand the deeper reasons.

My husband grew up reading this awesome Nursery Rhyme book from Germany, and I thought I would share some of it with you all.

(Not that I am trying to boss you around, but you really should click on the pictures to see exactly what is going on.  This book is amazing).

Rough Translation: This little girl decides to play with matches. Oh how much fun she is having!  Until she catches on fire.  Her whole dress catches on fire.  She burns completely to the ground until all that is left of her are her red slippers.  The end

Rough Translation: Mama says don’t suck your thumb.  Little boy decides to do it anyway.  Out of nowhere, the Tailor comes and cuts off his thumbs!  Now the little boy has no thumbs.  The end.

Rough Translation:  Silly Kaspar is refusing to eat his soup.  Mama says you need to eat your soup!  NEIN NEIN! I won’t do it, shouts Kaspar, as he gets thinner and thinner.  He soon wastes away into nothing and dies.  The end.