by Ajike Akande
When I arrived at the library today to write this week’s
post, I thought I’d write about this article that has been circulating on
Facebook about a mom who stopped yelling at her kids after she realized how
it affected them. I
realized quickly, that I really didn’t want to write a post about how bad the article
made me feel about the loud, probably soul-crushing, parenting I inflict on my
kiddos. I would really like to be
a non-yelling parent, and I think I actually try hard not to yell, but I’m not
there yet. If it’s any comfort to all of you, the more out of control yelling I
do (is there such a thing as controlled yelling?), the more in-mommy’s-face
laughing from my kiddos. They
think it’s hilarious to see me and Wife lose it on them. While this is seriously annoying, I’m
glad that their souls are not being entirely crushed by our yelling!
Then I thought I’d write about our Miss O who is going
through such a hard time right now.
The wind down of the school year, its eventual end and the beginning of
summer has left our beautiful O-Bear, who has Sensory Processing Disorder and
rests on the diagnostic cusp of high functioning autism, is so out of sorts. She pushes and hits when she doesn’t
mean to because she just can’t help herself, and she “disappears” when life
feels like it's all too much. So I thought I’d write about Miss O but
then “Fix You” by Coldplay started playing on iTunes, and the people at the big
table in the library got to watch me cry and try to pull myself together. Needless to say, I’ll have to get back
to you about our girl.
Oh here’s the song if you are sitting in a public place and
you are in need of a cry. http://youtu.be/k4V3Mo61fJM
Those two topics are out for today, so I have no
choice but to share this beautiful photo with you along with an explanation for
why I was wearing this get-up.
I don’t know if you've heard, but just because parenting is
exhausting and quite frankly, can make you sweat, it is not actually
exercise. I feel like I’ve been
tricked! With this new-to-me info
in my back pocket, I’m making some changes. Last night was Day 1 of my “Walking With Mike (Michael
Moore)” adventure. You see I have
been giving this exercise thing a great deal of thought over the past, oh I
don’t know, three years! Sure I
have tried a few times to get back into Nia (dance) classes, but seriously, I
have not exercised in years.
Truth is, I hate exercising. Really, really hate it. The only type of exercise I actually enjoy is dancing, but
attending dance classes requires that I follow someone else’s schedule, be on
time (not my specialty) and plan to leave the house. That is a lot of work for someone who isn’t really into
exercise in the first place. Joining
a gym? Well joining is not the
problem. I’m a joiner at heart but
going to a place, to do something I hate, alongside people who seriously look
like they are experiencing their own slice of heaven, is not my cup of tea (or
wine, which actually makes more sense, as I like wine way more than I like
tea). And I can’t take up running
because honestly, I won’t even run for the bus. Heck, I’d consider other options before running away from someone
chasing me!
Clearly, many forms of exercise have been ruled out by yours
truly, who has been happily exercising my right to lie on the couch and watch
TV. I know that moving the body
with some level of vigor is really good for one’s physical and mental health,
so after lying on the couch googling “how to motivate yourself to exercise,” I
flipped onto Facebook and saw a Michael Moore post about walking for 30 minutes
every day. Apparently people all
over have started virtually walking with him and of course tweeting about it
with the hashtag #walkwithmike.
Well, I love me a good bandwagon so I’ve decided to hop on – minus the
tweeting. I don’t get
Twitter.
So, last night I went for my first walk. Not wanting to over do it with some
fancy “See, I’m exercising outfit”, I slipped on a sports bra under my
spaghetti strap dress, shoved my feet into my new runners, which I purchased only
because they’re awesome looking, grabbed my iPod that I purchased years ago for the
sole purpose of exercising, and put on my 7 year old’s Angry Birds headphones. “Oh no you didn’t!” “Oh Yes I did!” I listened to music I haven’t heard in
ages, walked briskly, bopping my head along with my tunes and thought about what treat I was going to have
after my 30 minute walk. Best part? I came home sweaty! Thank you very much!
Now, don’t go thinking that one day is hardly a new exercise
regime. We are not here to
discourage. One problem though,
it’s day two and it’s pouring rain.
I don’t know if I am serious enough about this Walking With Mike thing
to do it even when it’s raining!
Alright, I am officially on an exercise kick, except when it’s
precipitating or too cold, or too hot, or I’d rather watch Orange Is The New
Black. Okay, that last one is a
bit pathetic. Friends, this is
happening. I am exercising. I’m one of those people!
XO Ajike
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