Role Model for Life
Child's Play x2 | June 25Twenty laps. 500 yards.
It was the annual “Swimathon” at the YMCA where I work. I had promised the aquatics staff that I would participate and I couldn’t back down. Everyone else had a goal to swim 20 laps so that number sounded like a good goal for me too.
Now, it’s important for me to note that I was once a pretty good athlete. I ran competitive track in college and did fairly well. Since then my internal ID has always been “athlete.” Even if I haven’t regularly exercised over the past year(s), I still identify myself as someone who exercises.
As I began to swim my body started to protest. I couldn’t take breaths fast enough as I my once-fluid freestyle was herky-jerky and rushed. After two laps I gave in to my inner ego and gave in to my desire not to drown. I turned over and did the backstroke for the next 17 laps. During my laps, I would occasionally stop at one end to catch my breath. I was not unaware of the other members who I knew swam regularly and were watching “the boss” swim in the pool. I got good-natured ribbing about my stroke of choice and the pace at which I was swimming. Finally, at one of my quick rest breaks a senior member swam up to me.
“You should be ashamed of yourself.” He said.
“Huh?” I gasped
“In 10 years when your kids want to go swimming with you, what are you going to tell them? That you’re too out of shape to play with them? I’m 63 years old and I can kick your butt.” He rasped.
And off he swam, kicking my butt. (Don’t tell him, but his membership rates will be going up next month)
As I continued to swim, I started thinking about what he said. He was right. I had let myself go to the point of really being out of shape. I started thinking of my kids and how they were now a year old. I really do want to play with them. I really do want them to see how important exericise and healthy eating is as they grow up. If they see their parents exercising regularly then they will be more likely to exercise, not only as children, but into adulthood as well.
So, a simple swimathon, where I managed to save face by finishing my 20th lap freestyle, left me with a few sore muscles and a newfound perspective on what is important. I will find time to exercise (I work in a YMCA for cryin’ out loud) and give my kids the most important gift - a role model for life.
How do you fit exercise into your life with children?
My daughter and I do cardio dance at home together and we’ve made a sad attempt to jog together (sad because she’s only three and she needed a break…fine, I needed the break).
When they are sleep. During the first year my Okapis were alive, I gained what I “lovingly” refer to as my Twin Twenty. I gained about 20 pounds and since they were about 1.5, I have lost about 14-15 of it. I bought a $67 bike at Target and started riding very early in the morning (about 5:30am during the week) and when they nap on the weekends (yes, they still nap and we’ll make it last as long as we can).
They know I bike ride and I hope as they get older we’ll be able to do exercise and sports together. I know it has made me feel so much better about myself - a message I really want to send to my Okapis - especially my boy.
I’ve actually lost quite a bit of weight since the kids came along. Since my blood sugar tends to run high (but not quite at diabetic levels) during pregnancy, I cut out sugar while I’m pregnant and then burn many many many calories breastfeeding. Chasing around after the kids has seemed to help keep me physically fit, but my husband and I took them swimming on Saturday and after 20 minutes in the pool, my legs felt like LEAD trying to walk out of it. My goal is to incorporate the kids into my exercise while I can (like taking a swimming class with the Munchkin, for example), and when they are older, make sure that I join in the fun with them (family night swimming, etc.). My husband likes to take the Munchkin for walks - a little daddy-daughter time, a little exercise. And chasing them around the backyard never hurt, either.
With one child, it was easy, and I worked at a YMCA then (in the nursery, with my son by my side!) so it was really easy. I’d either just leave him in the nursery for an extra half-hour or so after my shift or my husband and I would tag-team.
When the second came along, logisitics were more difficult and every time I’d take them to the Y (a different one, as we’d moved), the older one would get sick. Every single time. I complained to the Y and they said that lots of parents complained and they were trying to get a handle on it, but we had to stop.
Now that they’re older it’s getting easier again. The oldest can sit in the “family room” and the younger never gets sick so she can go the child watch and everything is fine. Now all I have to do is get the motivation…I’m doing better since I’ve gone public with my struggle on my blog. I just have to keep it up!
I have two children (5 & 2 years), and I get up very, very early (around 5-5:30am, depending on which workout I’m doing that day). I alternate yoga, circuit training/aerobics & strength training, changing things around each week to fit my schedule and/or mood, and keep from getting bored.
There’s also a small park near my work that I walk around a couple of times on both of my 15 min. breaks during the work day, which amounts to about 1 1/2 miles during the day. Some days, I’ll also walk the 1/2 mile home for lunch.
After work, I like to play in the yard with the kids, or take them for walks, and if my husband gets home from work early enough, we go for a bike ride.
I also try to make a workout of my housework, when possible. We have a two story house with laundry facilities AND our pantry in the basement. Basically, I sacrifice a little efficiency and make more trips up and down the stairs for a better workout.
I guess, basically, it boils down to adding more activity to my everyday life, not as an exercise program, per se, but as just a change to a more active lifestyle. The biggest bonus of this is that I am modeling an active life to my children, something that will stick with them all their lives.
Wow, that was a heavy dose of the truth. Way to pull it together on that last lap and what appears to be a renewed sense of urgency concerning your health. I imagined myself in your position as I’m certain I would ‘make my 20′ no matter what but how I would do it… well, I would have gotten my butt kicked also. So, thanks for sharing this, though everyone else here appears to have a plan, it was a wake up call for me also.
I chase my son around the house. I don’t mean that as a joke. Seriously everynight I chase him in an effort for me to actually get a little bit of excercise.
I suck.
And I mean that in the non-physical state-of-being way. If I sucked in the actual physical way, it might burn a few calories, know what I mean?
Sigh. I’m so tired of being tired. And I know the remedy for being tired is to exercise but I’m too effing tired to do it.
I’m sure it would be different if *I* worked at the YMCA, right?
We found a great gym that’s more family oriented than the Y. It’s called LifeTime Fitness and it’s the type of gym every family would love. Makes it easier to take your kids and gives you something the whole family can participate in. The kids club actually has the kids doing activities and computer games, not just sitting in front of the TV. They play interactive games and a separate basketball court to run around in. Gotta go, it’s time to meet the family at the gym.
The Wife and I squeeze in exercise at our respective workplaces — she goes to the gym at the university where she works, and I use the LifeTime Fitness just up the street from my office during lunch. On nice days, when I can leave work a few minutes early, I ride my Target-purchased bike. I’ve lost just under 30 pounds since we undertook this New Year’s resolution, and she has lost a bit more.
The only downside is that The Tot is the first one at day care every day, but neither he nor they seem to mind. (He’s not the last one to go home, at least.)