Elena 
From time to time I’ve mentioned new workouts that I was trying or places I was walking, and once in a while I get an e-mail from someone asking me how I get it all done.
The truth is I don’t always get everything done. Sometimes I have to decide what stuff is going to NOT get done so that I can do something else.My favorite thing to let go is laundry- but I can only pull that off for so long.
For some years, after my stillbirth and then the subsequent birth of Rosie, working out took a back burner to just recovering physically and emotionally, and also to work. The transcription company I work for now has a first-come, first-work type of policy. You are assigned to an account that has other transcriptionists on it and you compete for those jobs, so if I pulled up a great big 10 or 15 minute job, I would be happy to forgo a walk or a workout.
But it wasn’t always like that. In the first years of our marriage I was a dancer and since Mr. Pete was starting his career and working long late hours, I was always dancing or rehearsing, sometimes until 8 or 9 at night. When the babies started coming I hung up my dancing shoes, but I started going to Jazzercise. The best thing about Jazzercise is the babysitting! I could workout to fun music with new friends and for an hour, the kids were safe and well cared for. My first five kids were all Jazzerbabies.
But for now at least, I don’t see myself traveling to a studio or a gym to work out and I have to find the time to do it here. I also have a pretty rigorous homeschool routine as well as my transcription work. I know one popular homeschool blogger stops in the middle of the morning to do her FIRM tapes while her kids are doing school work, but that would just never work for us. 11:00 is prime school time. The kids are alert, we are finishing up math or language arts and I can’t imagine tell them they’re on their own for a few hours while I change, workout, shower, and get dressed! And I would say especially now with a pre-schooler who needs to keep occupied and a high schooler and eighth grader who are doing some pretty difficult things, it would not be right for me to just check out on them.
What works now is getting up and starting a tape at 7 a.m. I can be done, showered and dressed by 8:30 and ready to get on with the rest of my day. I might also be able to sneak in a workout after 3 when the kids are playing with their friends outside and wouldn’t miss me anyway! Sometimes, mostly on weekends, Mr. Pete and I walk around the city and we get close to 4 miles in, but he likes to stop for breakfast on the way so I’m not sure if that counts or not!. One of my favorite things to do is take the kids to the park that has a walking track around it. The kids can play and I can walk. Of course, I have older kids too. I would never feel comfortable with leaving my 4-year-old in the playground alone or even just with her almost 11-year-old sister. I always make sure we take one of the boys with me.
On Monday, Izzy’s friend, T, walked with me. She wants to play sports in jr. high and high school and has a lot of weight to lose. I want to be able to run a 5K, so we are perfect for the couch potato to 5K approach. That day, I took Izzy, T, Rosie and Noah to the park. T and I walked with Rosie while Izzy and Noah ran the course a few times. By then, Rosie was tired and wanted to play with them, so off they went to the playground while T and I got our three miles in! That was perfect.
I’m sure things will change over time. I know Izzy is more interested in my tape and DVD collection and we even did the Dancin’ Abs by Jazzercise
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