I CAN DO THIS- EXERCISING!
Where do I fit exercising into my day? I am not a runner, although I will run if I am being chased.
I actually don’t need to lose weight, I just want to tone up a little and be healthy. I’ve changed the way I cook over the past year for the better, making more vegetables and proteins, less carbohydrates.
So exercising has now made its way up my priority list. But who has time to exercise? I just got an email from my sister-in-law that said at the end of it, that she was going down to her basement gym to work out before her kids woke up- her email was sent at 6 am.
God bless her… but I am not that kinda’ gal. I know I will never wake myself up at 6 am just to exercise. And then I’m busy with my 4-year-old and the house, and playdates, and laundry, and building forts, and life.
Can I trick myself into exercising just a little at a time?
According to the Centers for Disease Control– the answer is,
‘Yes I can’!
Exercising for 10 minutes, three-times-a-day is as good for you as exercising for 30 minutes straight. Huh? Really?
I think… I can do that!
While my son was at preschool I took a break and walked to the bottom of our street and back- it took 10 minutes.
Our neighborhood park is a 10-minute walk away.
My 4-year-old and I were at the mall so when we were finished buying him shoes, I did a lap around the mall at a brisk pace pushing his car stroller (he loved it).
So… I think I can do this!
Wait- if I am walking, carrying a 35 lb. 4-year-old for 5 minutes-
does that count the same?
Hmmm- this could be great-
If I am giving my son ‘horsey rides’ down on all fours for 15 minutes –does that complete my exercise for the day? That’s pretty strenuous and should count double.
If I pick him up 10 times a day and twirl him around that should do it, right?
And when I play soccer with him for 15 minutes twice-a-day that could do it too!
Wait again,
I’m getting ahead of myself.
I’m sticking to 10 minutes 3-times-a-day and I’ll consider the other stuff…
EXTRA EXERCISING!
PERFECT!
An abbreviated version of this can be read at DC Metro Moms Blog.
BABY BUNNIES IN OUR BACKYARD!
It’s Spring,
and my husband in his ongoing quest to get a nice lawn put down grass seed and hay a few weeks ago.
When he raked up the hay last week we were all surprised that a mother bunny picked a mound of hay IN THE MIDDLE of our yard to build a nest.
My husband saw two little ears, so we left a little bit of hay for her and then on friday it happened.
We saw her FEEDING not one, not two but FOUR babies.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen this so up close.
She must have gotten confused with all the hay, because as you can see, her nest is right by our deck.
I’m so excited and have developed, just over the weekend, a strong maternal instinct to protect these little offspring.
Ah, nature! I have instantly fallen in love with these bunnies…
Once a mother, always a mother 
A MOTHER’S LOVE
“When you are a mother, you are never really alone in your thoughts. A mother always has to think twice, once for herself and once for her child”.
~Sophia Loren
THE PHYSICS OF THE UNIVERSE AND TODDLERS
On the History Channel last night I caught the tail end of a discussion about the physics of gravity and the earth. It was on a show called The Universe.
If you could dig a hole between any two points in a straight line (the straight line was emphasized) in the world:
DC to NYC,
DC to LA,
DC to Beijing,
DC to Finland,
To travel through the hole would take you 42 minutes. It doesn’t matter the distance, the time is exactly the same for all of the ‘tunnels’ that you would dig.
Imagine the tunnel is a semi-circle, like a frown: You would fall down, gravity would pull you (obviously),
then the velocity and speed you had generated would push you back up to the other end.
The time is the same no matter what the distance because of the steepness of falling = gravity.
Now let’s see:
In 42 minutes on any given morning I usually put in a load of wash, help my son get dressed, make breakfast, make lunches, get myself ready, pick up random pieces of playdough from the rug, have some sort of crazy conversation with my 4-year-old,
‘Mommy, where do butterflies go to the bathroom?’…
and take him to preschool.
Hmmm, that or freefalling to Beijing in 42 minutes… seems about right.
It’s FINALLY Spring!
The weather is FINALLY, consistently, pleasant and warm!
Although it’s been raining in DC for 24 hours- look at how beautiful these flowers still are?
Our family went out to dinner on Saturday night and I noticed it was still light out at 6:30 (I know, it takes me a minute). No matter how many seasons I have been through in my life, the increase in daylight after a cold and long winter ALWAYS puts a smile on my face.
Cheers to Spring!
MY CARPET IS NOT BEIGE, IT’S WHITE
So we’ve just celebrated our 5-year anniversary in our house.
I vacuum regularly and generally keep our home pretty neat. I got the name of a good, professional, local carpet cleaning business. The price was right- $20 for stairs, $40 per room. So I decided to complete my ‘Spring cleaning’ with this company’s help.
The guy came in with an industry-size carpet cleaning machine and got my carpets cleaner than they have ever been.
In fact, I always thought this carpet that is pictured was a light beige…
It’s not… It’s white.
Wow.
Enough said.
OLD FASHIONED MAGIC MARKERS
My son and his friend were racing matchbox cars and playing with playdough and doing other 4-year-old boy things at our home, like making up rules to pretend games as they go-
“Let’s drive to vacation.”
“Okay… let’s stop for gas.”
“We don’t need to.”
“Why not?”
“Because it’s pretend.”
“Ohhh… yeah, okay.”
Makes since, doesn’t it? And I have learned from my husband not to question these ‘rules’ because boys make them throughout their lives.
Then they were winding down and wanted to make maps (to drive on, of course). So I covered my coffee table (don’t worry- it’s very old and wooden) with paper and got out Magic Markers, crayons and colored pencils.
I asked my son’s friend if he wanted a Magic Marker and he stopped. Then with a glimmer in his eye and a little hesitation he asked, and I quote,
“How are they magic?”
I quickly explained to him that they aren’t magic, that’s just their name.
He was a little disappointed so I stammered how creating roads and coloring was creative and magical in a way… forget it, I had lost him, he wasn’t buying it. My son has always accepted the term because I use it. So they were both unimpressed, and went back to drawing roads.
But that got me thinking. Am I dating myself? Is ‘Magic Marker’ an old-fashioned term? Am I completely ‘old school’ and un-hip?
Wikipedia says that markers, also known as ‘Magic Markers’ were invented by Sidney Rosenthal from Richmond Hill, NY in 1952. ‘Magic Markers’ is now considered a genericized trademark, like saying Kleenex for all tissue or Chapstick for all lip balm.
Magic Marker is largely used in the US and Canada…
But I mentioned my ‘magic marker’ thoughts to a few mom friends and one from California said she had never used the term growing up.
Is this regional?
I know this isn’t rocket science or asking to comment on global warming BUT-
Am I the only mom who still refers to any markers as ‘magic markers’?
Or am I still just a novice; my eldest and only is 4, so I’m a pro about 4-year-old (boy) toys, but anything for kids older than four- I truly am not up on.
(ASIDE: I have heard of Hanna Montana and High School Musical and know they are HUGE, so I’m not completely in the dark.)
But good old Magic Markers… are they so… last century?
Everything moves so fast nowadays. Everything seems to become obsolete so quickly. The newest version of this, the latest version of that. Everything is BIGGER, and better, and ‘new and improved’. Is there some new line of Fabulously Fine and INCREDIBLY BETTER markers or pencils?
One more thing – Is there a new name for crayons that I just don’t know about ?!
An abbreviated version of this can be found at DC Metro Moms Blog.
DON’T WORRY
“Don’t worry about the world coming to an end today.
It’s already tomorrow in Australia.”
-Charles Schulz
Where would we be without the sanity and love of ‘Peanuts’ ?
ROOKIE MISTAKE
I’m re-posting this because it is quoted on Blogtations right now. I also will never, ever forget it.
Note to self: make sure your child is really excited about something before you travel 2 hours for it.
Last summer I learned that Thomas the Tank Engine was coming to Cumberland, Maryland. My son loves Thomas and I was excited that a full-size Thomas existed. I read that it makes stops all over the country to historical railroad stations. So, wanting to give my child a wonderful experience, I bought tickets online… and then looked at a map.
Cumberland is FAR from Bethesda where we live, as in about 2 hours and 15 minutes… and that’s without stopping. Still I thought, my little guy will love this, he deserves this.
I told my son about it and seemed to like the idea.
We set out that Saturday and after driving for a full hour out I- 270 my son announced to us,
“I do not want to ride the train”.
My throat closed up. I couldn’t breathe. My husband gripped the steering wheel. We didn’t look back, we just looked at each other. John took a deep breath, and mouthed, ‘Relax’.
I took a moment and looked back at my little guy and cheerily said, “We’re just going to take a look at it, I think it will be fun!”
Another hour and 15 minutes later we were in Cumberland. The railroad was great, but we were holding our breath. We walked without saying much up to Thomas the Tank Engine and waited in line to board. I brought a small Thomas along with us that my son played with while we waited in line. As he played with the mini version of what stood beside us, John and I just kept looking at each other and crossing our fingers.
We boarded the train, he was a little fidgety, but cool. The train started, “We’re on!” I thought. Thomas the Tank Engine then went about 10 minutes down the track, then stopped and then went in reverse back to the station.
Honestly, my son liked running around the little hay-bale maze afterwards much better.
FAST FORWARD TO LAST MONTH-
I got an email that a movie theater was doing a special debut of a few new Thomas episodes at 10am on a Saturday in Gaithersburg.
So, I looked at a map… THEN I bought the tickets.
We went, NO traffic since it was Saturday morning. We bought popcorn, watched Thomas on the big screen and had a great time.
I learned from my rookie mistake and didn’t repeat it… Yey- Victory!
I DON’T WORK?
From time to time I help out my former boss as a consultant.
We usually meet for business dinners because that works with my schedule and her schedule and it’s fun to catch up, and there is food involved, which is nice.
I told my son that Daddy was taking him to McDonald’s and I was going downtown to a
business dinner meeting.
“Business meeting?” my son asked.
“But Mommy, you don’t work!“
I couldn’t help but grin. My grin turned into a chuckle and then a full blown laugh.
Ahhh. My little guy, who amazes me with his awareness, surprises with with his astuteness, just reminded me that he is only 4 years old.
Little man, little man, you have a lot to learn.
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