When Momma Ain’t Happy…

We know this one, right? When momma ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy.  

Such a true statement. 

As moms we can either use our influence to make our homes a wonderful place, or we can allow our negativity to make our home into a place our children or spouses avoid whenever possible.  While we all have rough days, I imagine we all desire to have a happy home and be a joyful person that people want to be around.    

I have met many supermoms. They are amazing! Their kids do awesome things and they do awesome things with their kids.  Their energy seems boundless and they always seem so positive.  I am not a supermom.  I have days that I would rather just wipe off the calendar and not speak of again. Definitely not pretty.

Now, I think the supermoms have figured something out ahead of the rest of us. 

What might that be?

It is good and necessary to spend time on yourself.  When we are so battle worn and weary that we are unable to care for ourselves, we automatically take it out on our families.  We need to care for our bodies and minds, so that we are able to be the positive pillars in our families’ lives.  While I cannot avoid every bad day, I have learned that I need to do some things just for me.  This pregnancy has been exhausting.  While I can’t always get to bed as early as I’d like, I do allow myself to sleep in a little a few days a week.  I get up when my 3 year old gets up, rather than a half hour or hour beforehand. While I may get less things done on those mornings, my family appreciates that I got more sleep! I am slower to criticize and be negative, and I start the day on a much kinder note. 

Secondly, I need stress relief.  I am naturally a person that holds onto stress and I take things to heart that my easy-going husband would just let roll off his back.  Exercise is my biggest stress relief.  Although I usually teach several fitness classes during the week, I also need time to workout on my own.  Whether it is putting on headphones and zoning out while strength training, or running outdoors and listening to nature, I need time to process life and put it together in my head.  Is this time usually spent away from my family? Yes. While I love my family, I would much rather exercise on my own or with a friend whenever possible.  Does it seem selfish to spend this time on myself? Sometimes. Although I try to make my workouts early in the morning or late at night, they will occasionally impact the time I have with my family.  

Is it worth it? Yes.  Having time to myself to release stress and think through life is important.  I am calmer after a good workout, and can fight through issues on a kickboxing bag so that I don’t take out the problem on my husband or my kids.  

I need to be attentive to my primary triggers - sleep, stress, and exercise.  When I get enough sleep, it is easy to exercise, I am less stressed, I eat much healthier and I feel good. When I let stress overwhelm me or exhaustion overtake me, I eat poorly, feel poorly and take it out on those around me. 

For me to be able to love on my family, I have to put some TLC into my own well-being.  While your triggers may be much different than mine, finding those key areas you need to focus on might well make you and your home into a much happier place. 

Because…when Mom is happy, everyone’s happy. 

 *I know that finding time to yourself can be the biggest issue, especially for single moms or those with husbands that travel often.  Try to use your lunch break at work to get out on your own for a walk, or employ a relative to watch your children so you can get away for a bit. See Fitting in Fitness for more ideas on how to make exercise work into your life.

2014 Olympic Challenge!

The 2014 Winter Olympics are almost here! I love watching the athletes and cheering them on in their sports.  However, just hanging around the television in the evenings, snacking etc. doesn’t seem to be the best way to celebrate the Olympics.  This year I am challenging you (and me too!) to join along with an Olympic-sized challenge.  

Almost every athlete in Sochi, Russia, will have a considerable amount of travel to get there and get home again at the conclusion of the Games.  As most of us will not be able to be there in person, I challenge you to figuratively journey right along with them. 

We will have 17 days – beginning Friday, February 7^th –to reach Sochi, Russia, and to travel home again.  For our starting point we are using New York City, which is 5,319 miles from Sochi, Russia.  To make it home again, we will travel a total of 10,638 miles.  How do we do this?  Each minute of exercise we complete will be worth 10 miles of travel.  That means we have 1064 minutes of exercise to complete within 17 days.  Sound like an Olympic sized challenge to you?  We will need to average about 63 minutes of exercise each day in order to make that round trip by February 23^rd.  However, I can’t think of a better way to support our athletes and improve our own bodies than to go for such a challenge.

Now, if you are thinking, it is physically impossible for me to exercise 63 minutes a day, don’t just give up on this.  Here is a somewhat smaller challenge: Rather than making the round trip, just make the trek to Sochi.  You’ll need about 31 minutes per day to complete that portion of the journey.

What counts as exercise? The choice of activity is up to you.  However, if you are going for cardio, you should break a sweat! If you’ve never done any strength type activities before, this is a great time to start.  Try a class at a nearby gym, get out a Pilates DVD from the library, or perhaps even set up a workout with a personal trainer for some one-on-one instruction. 

Below are just a few ideas you might try.  If you feel especially inspired by the amazing athletes you are watching, you might even try out their sport! Although I’m not really sure where you can take up bobsledding… =)

• Basketball
• Bicycling
• Cardio Kickboxing
• Crossfit
• Dancing
• Elliptical/Stepper/Rowing Machine
• Group Fitness Classes
• Ice skating
• Pilates
• Rollerblading
• Running/Jogging
• Strength Training
• Swimming
• Skiing
• Volleyball or other sports
• Walking
• Yoga

Just print out the map below and get started!!

Fun Indoor Fitness for Kids

Need some ways to beat the winter indoor blues? I always try to get my kiddos outdoors for some fresh air, even in the winter, but when the cold is just too cold, we have to get creative inside.

If you need some help getting your kids to go from this --

to this --

I hope you find this post helpful! =)

Jumping rope:  We don’t have space to do this indoors for real, but we can lay the rope out on the floor and do several jumping games.  (If you don’t have a jump rope, just use a piece of yarn or string.)

• Jump over and back on two feet – or try one foot!
•  See how many jumps it takes to get to the end of the rope
• Bear-walk, crab-walk, crawl, roll, etc. the length of the rope and back
• Make shapes with the rope – triangle, circle, square etc – and hop in and out

Parades and Trains:

My boys love music!  We have a few musical instruments that come along with us on our parades.  The boys take time leading or following each other around the house, while we play lovely music! If you don’t have any traditional instruments, fill up a plastic peanut butter jar with some rice for a quick shaker and grab a small pot or lid with a wooden spoon for a quick percussion instrument.  If you are joining the parade, I do advocate ear plugs! 

Trains are also fun! Make a train with your bodies by holding onto the person in front of you. Take turns being the engine, freight car, or caboose and explore your house… all the while making amazing train sounds. Of course!

Obstacle courses:

Create a kid friendly obstacle course in your living room! Crawl under tables or couch cushion tunnels, shimmy through tight spaces, jump over “fire or water” (red or blue paper), bear or crab walk over a couch cushion, walk backwards for a specific distance, or make a limbo rope. Jumping jacks, crawling, turning in circles, and other movements can be added in specific areas.  If you are making a course for older children, add challenge by having them carry something in their hands or by adding a balance challenge to some of the obstacles (For example, balance a light book or paper on their heads.). 

*Please make sure all fragile items are out of the way, and there are no sharp corners where your children might get hurt.  

Don’t Touch the Floor! is another game that goes along these lines.  Use pillows, blankets, cushions, paper etc. to have your children get from point A to a point B without touching the floor.

“Clean up Parties”

I laugh at how my little guys love “clean up parties” at our house! Not sure exactly how this originated, but the name has stuck and we usually do these several times a week –if not every day.  We crank up the kids tunes and race all over the house cleaning up.  I have to say that I love the results of “clean up parties” too! =)

 

Outdoor toys inside!

This doesn’t work well for us, because right now we don’t have a good basement space for this, but if it works for you- great! Outdoor soccer balls, hula hoops, small trikes, scooters etc. can all be used indoors if you have a safe space to enjoy them.

Making Roads:

There are an incredible number of options that go along the lines of this idea.  At our house, we make roads through the living room with small alphabet and number squares.  Tiptoeing, hopping, or jumping along the path or on the squares can help with balance and coordination and burn off some energy.

Red light- Green Light:

This game doesn’t need a road to play (just a safe place to run or move), but if you don’t have a large space, a path can help.  We often drive along the ‘road’ and pretend to be cars that have to stop and start, when I say “red light” or “green light”.  If you have a smaller space, but older children, try racing from a start to finish by crawling, walking backwards, or doing a crab walk.  If they don’t stop when you say “red light”, you may have them start back at the beginning. 

Balloons!

We LOVE balloons at our house! Balloons are one of the cheapest methods of entertainment for my kiddos.  They run around chasing them, see how long they can keep them in the air, kick them, throw them, and just love playing with them.  Try turning on a fan to make the balloons move around more on their own and make them more difficult to catch.  Or, lay down on the floor and try to keep a balloon up with your feet.  If you have several colors available, have them run to find a specific color and bring it you.  Older children might enjoy play a game of balloon volleyball back and forth over a string – or even just a line on the floor.  

There really are so many active games to play, for kids of all ages. These are just a few favorites from our house.  If you are a mom of a preschooler, try this link for more game ideas! 
http://www.teachpreschool.org/2013/12/winter-time-large-motor-play-for-the-preschool-classroom/

  

Do you have other fun indoor ACTIVE-ities that your children love? Feel free to share below!