Exercise - It CAN Be Done!

About six years ago, the Raamonster and I went for a bike ride with the only two kids we had at the time. I remember being completely exhausted and totally unmotivated to repeat the experience any time soon.

I rode to the same spot recently... and then way past it with Baby on the back of my bike and the three older girls riding ahead of me. Many thoughts went through my head as I cruised past the playground we visited so many years ago. The main one was I can't believe how unfit I was!

What's exciting is that now I am finally getting fit and healthy again. I was going to say that it all started four weeks ago, but no, it all started six months ago. My lovely, energetic, and awesome friend at Strollerobics demonstrated just by her great example that it is important to be as healthy as we can and that it can be done. And hey, if I can do it, anyone (barring insurmountable obstacles such as being bed-bound) can do it.

It took me a while to really get going - for a while I was jogging on the spot while hanging out the washing or finding ways to exercise before the kids got up in the morning, but then I dropped the ball. Now, though I have well and truly picked it up again. An important part of picking up that ball was realising that I'm not just responsible for my personal fitness, but my kids' fitness as well.

So, while the weather is fine, we're going to the park most mornings (a couple of days we've been for bike rides, we went to a nature reserve once and we've also been swimming a couple of times instead) right after Bible time. At the park, the girls have been riding their bikes around or running around and playing while I run/walk around the perimeter and do the occasional push up or sit up.

For ages I've made excuses for myself about why getting fit is too hard. Admittedly, a pregnancy can always throw a spanner in the works (at least that's an excuse I don't have at the moment!). But I finally realised it was time to ditch the excuses and find something that would work.

If you're unfit and full of excuses like I was, it helps to look at what is important and what can be done. Going to the gym before my husband leaves for work is unachievable and undesirable for me for many reasons (I really struggle with early mornings, the cost is prohibitive, etc, etc.) Getting outside as much as possible is important for me because my mental health suffers if I don't spend time outside in the sun regularly.

Taking a good hard look at my reality and what really matters helped me to get out of my rut (plus the positive influence of that wonderful friend!). And, importantly - trying stuff was a huge step in the right direction. I tried a few mornings to go for a run early in the morning - I enjoyed the benefits of better sleep and improved energy levels, but soon realised I couldn't possibly sustain the 5.30 or 6.00 am start necessary to keep this up. Even though I realised that that wasn't going to work, I suddenly found myself motivated to find something that would work.

So if you're stuck in the sedentary rut - just try something to get moving - you may well find (like me) that the more you try, the more you start looking for ways to make fitness work and the more open you are to possibilities. It's OK to start small - I'm exercising longer and harder than I was to start with, and feeling the benefits (apart from some knee problems that I'll have to learn to work around :().

Truly - it can be done - why don't you give it a try and tell me how you go?

They Learn What You Teach Them (Even when you don't think you're teaching them anything)

I had an "aha" moment the other day. I suddenly had a profound realisation of how deeply we influence our children when we're just... living.

It was watching my oldest daughter cuddle up to her great-grandmother on her bed in the nursing home. She was stroking "Oma's" arm and gazing lovingly at her. It was a beautiful moment - especially when I realised that sometimes we parents (by the grace of God) get something right when raising our children.

I was wondering why this oldest daughter of mine is so affectionate towards the elderly. One of her favourite parts of a recent trip up to Queensland with her grandparents was the time she spent with a senior friend of the family. As I was pondering, I suddenly remembered that for a short time while Miss Curie was a baby we made regular visits to a nursing home that was very close to our house at the time. I felt at the time that I needed to do something useful, and taking my baby to a nursing home seemed like a good idea - so I did. When she was just 13 months old we moved and the nursing home visits ended, but it seems that the effects were permanent.

At the time of those visits I had a vague idea that this was a good way to bring up my little girl to be loving and accepting of people no matter what they look like, but I had completely forgotten about it since then... Until I watched her cuddling her beloved Oma as she had done so many times before.

Maybe I'm placing too much significance on those nursing home visits... Come to think of it, we were also making regular visits to hospital around that time because Oma was seriously unwell.
Maybe Miss Curie would have been like that anyway. Maybe... And maybe her sensitivity to smells and tastes has nothing to do with my Dad opening all 32 of the spice jars in our spice rack one at a time and holding them under her nose while telling her the name of each spice - when she was three months old. Maybe. But I'm starting to be convinced that our kids learn what we teach them - especially when we don't think we're teaching them anything at all.

If It Really Matters...

I have a confession to make. I'm pedantic. As a result, I have a pet hate of snappy sayings. One of my most disliked is: "there's no such thing as can't" or "nothing's impossible".

When someone says either of those to me, I really feel like saying something like: "so you're saying I'm just not trying hard enough to sprout purple feathers and fly to the moon?" Obviously there are many things that I can't do - that are impossible - such as give birth to a walrus (OK, so maybe science will get there one day, but I really doubt it) or turn everything I touch into mouldy cheese, or turn a raging cyclone into a mild summer breeze.

What is true, is what the Bible says: "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." I like that much, much better - mainly because it's God's word, not something that impatient adults make up to get kids to try harder. (Yes, I know that many people say these things with the best of intentions and I really do appreciate that, but let's stick to telling kids the things that are really true.)

I paraphrase that as: "if it's really important, it can be done. If it can't be done, it's not really important." I have to warn you, though, that only works if you're relying on God's strength instead of your own. God does let us fall flat on our faces and fail at the truly important things to teach us to rely on him (that all important phrase: "through Christ who strengthens me"). How do I know? Because it's happened to me. I've failed at being patient or kind to my husband or children because I was leaning on my own pitiful strength. I know that patience and kindness matter because the Bible says so.

The thing is, we can live our lives full of angst over all the important things that seem impossible... or over the impossible things that seem important... Or we can let go of our own ideas of important and impossible and let God decide what really needs to be done. Not just in the moments of despair and desperation, but every moment of every day.

The results are sure to be awesome.

Homeschooling Doesn't...

I know I've said it before in other ways, but homeschooling isn't perfect. It certainly isn't a way of setting apart the really good parents from the really bad. Bad parents can homeschool, too. It's a decision many make after careful and thoughtful consideration. It's a decision that some make on the spur of the moment without much regard for future ramifications (I don't have anyone specific in mind here!).

Homeschooling doesn't mean that parents love their children. Many loving parents homeschool their children. Many loving parents send their children to school. Some children who are homeschooled are, and will be, neglected and abused. The fact that the parents are educating their children at home does not make abuse any less vile and disgusting.

Homeschooling doesn't shield children from smut or evil or rebellion or... whatever. There are many ways that rubbish can enter our homes and our lives. If we as parents have a habit of letting that rubbish in, our children will soon learn to do the same.

Homeschooling doesn't create strong family relationships. It can facilitate strong family relationships, but ultimately people build relationships. Unless we directly put our efforts into building relationships, they won't... be built. (Simple, really, but I have to remind myself... often!)

Homeschooling doesn't make our children kinder, or more thoughtful, or less self-centred. It is an opportunity to teach and guide them more closely in these areas, but if the opportunity is neglected, the outcome is likely to be mediocre (although our children are certainly able to rise above our failures as parents).

I could go on and on, but what I'm trying to say is that homeschooling is a tool. A hammer in the hands of a psychopath is a weapon, but in the hands of tradesman, it is a tool. In the hands of an expert tradesman it can produce a masterpiece. In the hands of a toddler, it's likely to yield sore toes and a lot of noise.

As parents it's worth remembering that both homeschooling and schooling are tools. We are the tradesman and our children apprentices. If we neglect our work and leave it to the apprentices, we can expect poor results. We hope that ultimately our children will become expert tradesman, but that depends both on our commitment to mentoring them and their commitment to growth.

Homeschooling doesn't guarantee success. It doesn't guarantee happiness. But, when all is said and done, may we all have the satisfaction of knowing that, whatever tools we used, we used them well.