Today Is The Day

Technically, I guess yesterday was the day. It was the day I decided to start exercising again. Not taking a 30 minute walk to the park and back kind of exercise. Not doing 25 squats while bouncing a fussy baby kind of exercise. I mean REAL exercise.

I mean Jazzercise.

That's right. I not only drive a minivan. I do Jazzercise.

And I love it!

Our local Jazzercise has a program that offers free unlimited classes if you volunteer an hour a week in their childcare. I have been a little reluctant to sign on because I was too afraid to commit. For some reason, being a stay at home mom makes it really hard to commit to an kind of schedule - maybe because I love that my job has no "real" schedule. Hard to give that up.

But I finally decided that making a commitment to exercise was probably pretty important. So I signed up.

And yesterday was my first official class. It's funny how quickly I have gotten out of the habit of exercise. It felt so foreign to put on a sports bra, pack my bag, and grab my water bottle. And I cant pretend I wasn't really nervous. What if I passed out from not being able to breathe? What if my heart exploded from overload? What if I threw up like they do on Biggest Loser? What if my son screamed the whole time in childcare and the other moms couldn't enjoy their workout?

Thankfully, none of that happened. I was a little out of breath but in a good "This will all be worth it" kind of way. My heart didn't explode and I didn't puke (although I did make sure I had an escape route in case I needed to) And the music was so loud I couldn't tell if my kids were screaming or not.

There were a few times I wasn't sure I could do another attitude leg lift. And I did have to conveniently adjust my weights a few times to give myself a break. But the older lady in front of me sure did motivate me. I used to be a dancer for Pete's sake! Jazzercise was not going to get the best of me!

And in the end, it felt really good. My body felt good. And it felt so good to be doing something for myself, for one hour, without the kids.

So, I'm committed. I'm going to Jazzercise. A least twice a week. Or maybe more if I can get over the guilt of putting my kids in childcare.

No Interruptions Please

We're in a local coffee shop that has some toys. Both of the kids were awake at 2:00 and I couldn't imagine the rest of the rainy afternoon in the house trying to entertain the kids and referee arguments. Coffee shop was a good idea, right?

I put the kids in the play section so I wouldn't have to chase them while I ordered my coffee. At the counter, I ordered my drink and then yelled across the cafe to my daughter, "Do you want anything to drink?".

She looked at me in the midst of playing with a pretend phone but didn't respond. I tried to make my question more specific, "Do you want some water?".

She looked at me, took the phone from her ear and responded, "I'm in the phone mom"

Oh. Guess I shouldn't have interrupted. Next time I'll wait patiently. Another lesson learned.

You Know You're a Mom...

In honor of Mother's Day, here is a list of a few ways you might know you are a mom.

When you finally blow-dry your hair for the first time in who-knows- when, all of your friends ask if you got a hair cut.

When you tell the hair stylist who cuts your hair every six months that you part your hair in the middle, (where you have been parting it since college), she exclaims, "Did you know the middle part is coming back in style?"

Even though you used to go out for the night at 9:00, when you are driving a baby around at 1:00 in the morning, you are completely shocked at the amount of people who are not only out in the middle of the night but dressed in something other than pajamas as well.

You can put in a DVD, pass out snacks, and retrieve dropped toys - all while driving.

During award season, you don't recognize most of the actors, you've never heard any of the songs, and you have seen 1 1/2 of the movies ( you feel asleep in one because you tried to watch it after the kids went to bed)

You are always the best dressed at church because it's your only opportunity to wear your nice clothes and heels.

Your best dressed for church also includes a little spit up.

When you are driving in your car by yourself, it takes you five minutes before you realize you are singing along to Old McDonald on the radio

You look forward to the dentist; it's nice to lay back and not have to talk.

Breakfast is eaten standing up.

You love when Daddy (or grandpa or uncle) is around so you don't have to do the roughhousing.

You know the tune to this: Backpack, backpack. Backpack, backpack.

You write a list about being a mom for a Mother's day, and finally get it finished a few days late.

You start a blog about the craziness of being of mom, and can't seem to keep up because being a mom is just too crazy.

You consider Mother's Day a day off.

Happy Mothers Day!

Down the Drain

My daughter likes to throw things. Not balls. In fact, she probably inherited my ball throwing skills. She likes to throw things when she's mad. I don't know who she inherited that from.

So the other day we were in the bathroom washing her hands and something I did made her really mad. Honestly, I dont even remember what was making her so mad. But she was frustrated and needed to take it out on something. she picked up a tiny plastic flower pot that belongs to her doll house and threw it across the room. Of course, it landed right in the open, just used, potty.

Here was my opportunity for a little natural consequences style parenting. I remained calm and said, "I am so sorry that landed in the toilet. It's gone now. We can't throw our things because they can get broken or lost."

She was pretty upset. It was working. She was crying and talking herself through what had just happened: "I was frustrated and I threw my toy and now it is gone forever and we can't get it.". I was pretty sure the consequences were sinking in.

As soon as we were done washing her hands, I had decided I would probably fish that little toy out of the toilet. The lesson had been learned and my daughter had suffered long enough. So, I reach over to grab the towel and I hear a flush.

Thank you little brother.

Lesson learned.

Inspiration

For Christmas/birthday, I got an iPad!!!! It's kind of inspiring me to start blogging again. I think about it all the time (blogging, not the iPad) but I never make myself sit down and do it because I'm afraid I will just fail at writing again. Maybe I will, maybe I won't. I'll give it another try. I think my stories are worth sharing. I'll be posting soon!

Special Visitors

This weekend, my in-laws came in town for Halloween. We had a great time, and I really do always enjoy having them visit. But preparing for their arrival is almost always a lot of work.



First, let me explain that I have a wonderful mother-in-law. But she does make one thing really difficult - she is a super neat freak and a REALLY good housekeeper. No problem, right? Not unless you are married to her son. Sorry, honey, but I will never be able to keep a house like your mother. Oh well. I have long ago accepted this part of my personality. However, when they come for a visit, I always feel just a little extra pressure to present my house looking it's best. And while they are here, I always feel a little pressure to make sure it stays that way. I'm not trying to be someone I am not; in fact, this is the housekeeper I always strive to be and their visits give me a little motivation to succeed.



So, my cleaning started a least two days ahead of their arrival. I can't leave anything for last minute. As soon as I do that, some child will refuse to let me put them down and then I have to shove everything in the master bedroom and close the door just minutes before they arrive. And this was not just a regular visit either. This was a some new people who have never been to our house might stop by and ask for a tour of the house visit.



Here is a list of "in-law" cleaning, both before they come and while they are visiting.



1. After every meal, I thoroughly clean both the high chair and booster chair. Not my typical get the big chunks and major crust off. I actually take the tray off and wash it with soap and water.

2. All trash and toys are brought in the from car - immediately when we get home. I typically tell myself that during nap time I will go back out to the car and bring in all the stuff. And then I usually forget until the next time we go somewhere.

3. Beds get made. I actually do like to make my bed everyday but when the in-laws are here, I make sure to do it - just in case the bedroom door happens to get pushed open.

4. Vacuum stairs. This is a chore I really hate doing but I love the results. It is saved for special occasions, i.e. the in-laws

5. Vacuum the dog hair from under the ottoman. Just in case we decide to move furniture around for sleeping arrangements.

6. Change sheets. Of course this is a no-brainer. But I'm not going to lie. Last time they came I didn't change the sheets. I'm pretty sure they were the last visitors any way.

7. Vacuum the dining room. Our dining room is tucked away and we don't typically eat there. I usually ignore it on my regular weekly routine. But I'm pretty sure our cat sleeps on the chairs during the day. Must be cleaned for visitors.

8. Pick up all dirty clothes and toys after a bath. I like to pretend that clothes go immediately in the dirty clothes and that bath toys are left to dry on the side of the tub. Not always the case.

I know there are so many other things I do during the in-laws visit that aren't always typical for me. You know, pick up toys, clean the dishes, feed the kids lots of vegetables. Trying to be the best version of me that I can be.

I wonder if I've fooled them?

Blog guilt

As a mother, every little thing can make you feel guilty. Going out with friends while your husband watches the kids (even though he just played golf for 6 hours while you stayed home by yourself on a Saturday). Feeding your kids McDonald's. Looking forward to nap time. Napping during nap time. Turning off the monitor for just 5 more minutes of sleep during nap time. Putting your 9 month old in front of the TV so you can go to the bathroom. And the list could go on and on...

But I never expected that a blog would bring me guilt. Especially not a blog that I very much enjoy writing. But that is exactly what has happened.

A few weeks ago, my son decided that he was going to start the process of dropping of his morning nap. Every morning, I would anxiously await for him to show his tired signs - rubbing eyes, getting crabby, etc. I am pretty obsessed with trying to make sure that my kids don't get overtired because then we all suffer. But by 9:30, no signs of sleepiness. 9:45 - still nothing. 10:00 - despite him playing happily, I scooped him up and went ahead with the nap time routine - diaper change, failed attempt to read a book, nurse, sing, put in crib, leave the room. Thirty minutes later, he finally falls asleep. And then sleeps for 3 hours!!

Funny how this SHOULD be a positive thing. If he was my only child, I would have been celebrating. But not with two. Right about the time my daughter is ready for her nap, he is waking up - well-rested and ready to go for hours. Right about the time he is getting grumpy again, it's time for my daughter to wake up. And where does that leave me? With NO time to myself. No cleaning the house time. No Bible study time. No watching Ellen time. No blogging time.

Before I knew it, two weeks had gone by with no blog post. Every day, I would promise myself that as soon as the kids went to bed, I would blog. But then I was just too tired.

And then, I started to feel the guilt. I might as well not even continue the blog if I can't post regularly. I started to imagine all my readers wondering what happened to me. (When in reality, I am pretty sure my Mom is the only reader anxiously awaiting a new post). Most people probably didn't even notice I had dropped off the face of the blogging world. I started wondering why I had even started to blog and was feeling embarrassed that I couldn't get it together. So I decided to just quit.

But then I realized something - this is supposed to be fun, right? The whole point of this blogging thing is to give me an outlet to write and record the funny things in my life. It doesn't really matter if I have any readers at all. So, I'm back. Maybe not as often as I would like, but I have so many stories in my head that I can't wait to tell. Hope you enjoy reading them Mom!