I WANT A DOUGHNUT!!!!

The alarm went off at 6:35am and by 6:44am I was finally opening my eyes and beginning to stretch when I hear it.  Crying. I looked at the clock again and decided that I would indeed be facing this day whether I wanted to or not. Sitting up in bed, I looked up to see my youngest child sniffling and crying. Ready to comfort her from a bad dream or mediate some sort of sibling dispute, I began to ask her what happened when out of her mouth came the statement, " I WANT A DOUGHNUT!"

Shocked and confused as to why the pursuit of a tasty sugared breakfast pastry would make a 6 year old sob, I asked calmly for her to repeat her statement. " I SAID....I WANT A DOUGHNUT." 

OK. This is a new one. I have not in 14 years of being a parent ever been roused from bed by a crying child demanding pastry. I have no idea where she got the idea that I had a doughnut to give her in my bed. Perhaps she thought I have a secret stash under my pillow?  After explaining that I do NOT, in fact, posess such a treasure and that if I did I certainly would not deny anyone in such a state of distress, I asked her why in the world she wanted a doughnut.

Apparently 6:47am is not the time for a 6 year old to articulate the rationale for anything as the question made her bawl harder and frankly she became down right angry.  "Because they are GOOD! And I REALLY WANT ONE." 

Well.....it's hard to argue with such logic and I certainly wasn't going to win any debates without coffee. I tried the old standby....distraction.  "Why don't you go watch some TV? I'm so glad you are up early and you even got all dressed. OH I like your new sweater. Isn't it nice? The one Nana got you for Christmas.  Since you were so good at getting dressed, I'll let you watch TV while I shower."

This seemed to confuse her a bit. Mission accomplished. She was only sniffling now and cast a glance at me that said, I  KNOW what you're doing. But....I really want to watch my show. (generally TV in the morning is NOT allowed in my house)  Somewhat reluctantly, she headed off to the living room.  Another parental crisis averted.

Feeling quite impressed with myself and my incredibly intelligent and skilled parenting expertise, I headed off to shower and dress. Fifteen minutes later I emerged clean and dressed and mostly just ready for coffee.  She was sitting on the sofa happily watching some cartoon on PBS, still red eyed from crying, but calm.  My middle daughter had now joined her and was pleased to see the TV on.  I asked the question thinking that it was now safe. "What do you guys want for breakfast?"

Suddenly it was clear to me that my expertise in parenting was not nearly as refined as I had thought. If I had thought that moment through, I would have just quietly gone to the kitchen and prepared her favorite oatmeal. It probably would have done the trick. But, the question.......that question was at once a trigger for what I can only describe as a meltdown.

She looked at me as if I'd lost my mind. Obviuosly she'd been quite clear in her requests for breakfast foods that morning. What the heck was wrong with mom anyway? Had she forgotten English? Did she not KNOW what a doughnut was? WHY is it so hard to understand?  Doughnuts are good. I like them. I want one. And I want it NOW.

Of course none of the above was articulated, but CLEARLY it was implied by the crying and sobbing and chanting of "I want a doughnut. PLEASE I want a doughnut, Mommy." 

I calmly sat down next to her on the sofa. I looked lovingly into her eyes and took her into my arms. I told her how much I understood that doughnuts are yummy. I also explained that they are not good for our bodies and they are for special occasions. Today was a Wednesday like any other and did not warrant such recognition.  To this she responded that to HER it was a special day because for HER it was ART day and ART day is SPECIAL!

Alright. Right about now, I've had just about enough of the logical parent tactic. Didn't seem to be working anyway. Time for phase 2: The because I said so.

I told her she was NOT getting a doughnut.  I reminded her that we do NOT eat doughnuts regularly in this house. I can count on one hand the number of times in the last year this child had doughnuts for breakfast. I explained that there is no such thing as a pastry deficiency and that nobody NEEDS a doughnut. Our body needs healthy nutritious food and by God, she was going to have a HEALTHY breakfast before school.

I am happy to say that she seemed to recognize her defeat. She was contemplating all of this and seemed to accept it. We decided  on oatmeal and orange juice. Mission accomplished.  And then.....

"Mommy.  Can I have hot chocolate?"

Sigh..........

Mommy See, Baby Do

My original inclination was to post about how much I hate Mondays and how grumpy I feel every week when I roll out of bed, but then I decided to write about more positive and interesting things I noticed over my weekend.

First, I did pretty well as far as food goes, although I did some extra snacking yesterday, including a dipped cone at Dairy Queen I had following my son's band performance. I knew better than to agree to going there. But, I did count the calories and even with that I only went over my calories yesterday by 41 calories. For the week, I ended up under by 4,000 and I expect a loss at my weigh in on Wednesday. Although, you never can tell what Mr. Scale will have to say about that. He's such an a-hole!

One of the big reasons I started this road to fitness is for my kids. When I think back on my childhood, I remember a lot of dieting. I think I was on weight watchers the first time at age 10. I've seen diets. A lot of them. I've seen weight loss surgery-my mom, her brothers, and others in my mostly obese family. I have not seen real success with weight loss.

The thing I cannot remember, and I've tried to, is ever seeing anyone exercising regularly or working out for the sake of fitness. It's just not something we did. In the 80s, I had the Jane Fonda tapes and did them periodically in my teen years. But, exercise was never a regular part of my day or anyone else I knew.

I really believe that I can set a healthy example for my kids by watching my food, teaching them to read labels and that exercise is and should be a part of your daily routine. Like brushing or flossing or bathing, I want them to think it is just something you have to do to stay healthy. It is not something I realized until just recently.

On Saturday, I decided to run outside, only for the 2nd time since I started C25K. I feel safer on the treadmill. I feel less self-conscious. I still haven't had the guts to run at the gym. I worry about people watching all that jiggling and fat flapping I guess. But, I've also realized it's easier to stop. If you're outside, you can't just sit down because you have to get back. So, I decided to go to the park. The track around the lake is 1.2 miles. Easy Peesy, right?

For the first time, I confessed to my 12 year old son that I want to run a 5K. I told him I'm training for it and asked if he wanted to join me. He does. So, Saturday am, he and I went to the park. I did 3 laps which is 3.6 miles. My longest distance yet. I am super slow, but I also finished week 4! Despite the heat. Despite the pollen. And, despite the jiggling fat.

The best part is that my son did it and felt so proud. Someone came up to him and told him he's going to be a great athlete when he gets bigger since he's started training so early. He was also jazzed about the next time we can go. Running laps at the park is not something I would have EVER done with my mom. It made me feel so good to share that with him.

Then, yesterday, I got in the pool with the kids. I've been swimming laps every time we swim, which is almost daily. This time, the kids got all excited about swimming laps with Mommy. Even my youngest, who is 4, decided to swim like me. Man is she fast! She beat me nearly every lap, which is 10 meters in our pool one way. I was telling her how amazing she is at swimming and marveling at how much faster she is than me. She said, "Mommy, don't worry. It's just because you are so much older and sweatier than me. You can get faster if you try!" I nearly drowned I was laughing so hard!

After that, I got out and did push ups and sit ups. You should have seen my girls, ages 4 and 5, doing them with me. HIL-alrious! Then, my 5 year old started teaching me some things she's learned in PE. I did them with her, although not as deftly for sure. Yet I was so proud and happy to be exercising with my kids and even learning a few things from them as well.

How about you? How do you approach teaching your kids about diet and exercise? Do you worry about them being obese like I do? The one thing I know for sure is that the changes I am making will change their lives for the better. Even if I don't reach my goal weight, I am leading by example and teaching lessons every time they see me making healthy choices.