Into to my new career, Stay at Home Mommyville

My alarm, which is my son talking into the baby monitor, wakes me up around 8:30am or 9 most mornings. I figure sleeping in is one of my job perks as a stay at home parent. The days can be crazy, exhausting, dramatic and a little confusing so I ditched my early wake up's and have adjusted to the needs of my kid and myself. I like it! I have been home with Dutch full time for about two weeks now and I absolutely love it. I have gone through quite a few career changes in the last few years and with each decision I feel myself step more and more into happiness. (Dutch is sitting next to me right now watching Toy Story 3, sometimes TV is the best babysitter ever. ya, I said it, and aren't they the cutest when they are quiet?!)

In two weeks I realize that children are the guru's of life. How many times have I had to really find patience, humor or strength with this boy? ALOT! I definaly have a handfull of moments each day of crazy or frusteration but they are ususally short lived and I do feel awesome at the end of every day. I love being here with Dutch at this age. Screw curriculum, I want to teach Dutch to be kind to people, to explore, to discover nature at places like the dog park or the basketball court by our apartment, to see new things like the bus or maybe just to get a ton of love from me all day long.

I have been a Fitness Instructor at Fly Fitness in Kirkland for almost a year and it is one of the most invigorating, amazing and just fun parts to my day. I can honestly say I look forward to my job and love watching people step into their own power through fitness. Finding time to workout as a stay at home parent is definately not as easy as before. BUT, it is so fun and totally possible to invent a whole new fitness schedule, sometimes with Dutch by my side. One of my favorite things to do is our park workout but I live in WA which means, weather sucks sometimes. I want to share my struggles, fitness ideas and workouts with my friends and whoever is interseted so that we can all stay healthy together. I teach at Fly three days a week with my current schedule and those are the days I commit to either taking a class or just getting into the studio and trying to sweat a bit. Its never my workout when I teach a class but sometimes I get a workout as an added bonus. If I sweat, I count that as good work. We dont need to point out the fact that I sweat like a man but I guess I just did. I still count it.
Fitness is always just a choice like most things in life. You either make time for it or you don't. There are 24 hours in each day, if you are committed, you can find time. End of story.
I will share my day today to give an example of how to find time. I am usually brutally honest, a classic over sharer so you might not always agree with how I spend my time. Don't judge, its not good for the soul.

Dutch woke up at 8am today. We eat breakfast, watch some good tv like Sesame Street and Super Why. I tell myself it is teaching him how to read and write. Those are some educational shows, people!

We are going to have a chill day because yesterday was way too crazy. Its Chads bday so we will take the bus down to say happy bday, bring him a cookie. Dutch LOVES the bus. Sometimes he fights me at the bus stop and tries to run into the street. Squirms when I pick him up, maybe throws in a few punches. Its all good. I practice my yoga mind. :)

When Dutch naps I can either find time to workout or do some cleaning. I go with the flow and decide day by day. Sometimes he naps for an hour sometimes its three.

Wake up from nap, lets go on a walk or to the dog park or something. Usually a little cabin fever during the day. Feels good to get out.

Today I am teaching at Fly 3:30, 5:30 and 6:45pm. I get to take the 4:30pm class which is strength. Getting into the studio for a class is so so so nice. I can zone out, pay attention to how I am feeling, listen to music and just re charge. It feels good to disconnect from the family for a few hours or even just an hour. I always feel READY TO GO after I get home whether I am teaching or just working out. Here is where it gets crazy, I think I am going to try to hit up an 8:15pm hot yoga class tonight after my classes. Yes, that would be two workouts in one day plus teaching but as a mom, I need to fit it in. I did not workout yesterday unless you count walking around the mall carrying a 40lb child who would not let me put him down. I dont count that even though I was sweating. Mixing up workouts is important and I only get into yoga about twice a week. I need to make that work and its not always the ideal time. My workout goals for a typical week look like this:

Take atleast one or two classes at Fly as a student, not a teacher. My focus here is to re-energize, have fun, listen to awesome music and be around friends.

Take one or two hot yoga classes (I look for the teachers who open the doors alot, dont try to cook you and teach a kind practice. Not too many of those so I have to go when I can). Goal for yoga is to find a meditation. Stop thinking for awhile and slow down.

Get a good sweat when teaching the three days a week that I teach (I do count that). Feel like I am helping people, finding power in myself and in my students, watching people push themselves, getting inspired!

Get in a really good walk with Vader and Dutch when weather permits. I do a route with alot of hills but the main focus is getting outside with my boys. Not being a workout freak.

Do workouts at home or at the park if my schedule doesnt allow me to get to a class or get a good sweat teaching. I will share these workouts as we go along.

IF that sounds like alot, well, I guess its alot. I love being active, getting moving, sweating, feeling strong. Some days it does feel like I am forcing myself to get it going but I never regret it.

So let the day begin. It is 10am, I am still in my jammies, watching Toy Story 3 with Dman. He just leaned over and gave me the best snuggle. Man, I love being a mom. Is working out important, yes. Is it the most important thing in the world, NO! Balance is key. Let's find some together!