If you have kids, you probably wonder, quite often, if the little goobers hear a single, blessed word you say. Then, sometimes you come downstairs and realize that maybe they do.
Saturday evening I was banging away at something or other, possibly playing Unreal, I don’t really remember. But whatever, I came down and found my wife and two of the boys lifting weights together.
Wifey and I are on the same page where healthy a lifestyle is concerned. We eat pretty well, and both believe in good, regular exercise. We both enjoy yoga and Pilates. The one place we differ is in my attitude toward going hard. She worries I push myself too hard, and that I’ll do myself an injury, which is not something I worry about, at all.
I told her I’d been easing back into my back maintenance yoga, after far too long a time off. She decided that this meant she had to get back to exercising from also too long a time off.
Since it was a little chilly Saturday (-16 Celsius) she decided this meant Pilates and maybe a HIIT workout. During Pilates Kid 2 came by and noted that it looked too hard. Wifey told him that there were lots of easier exercises, and asked what he wanted.
And this is where you learn that, maybe, the little doofus brigade actually hears what you say.
For Kid 2 decided he wanted to do some weight training to get stronger. “To turn my toothpick arms into pencil arms” were his exact words, I think.
He knows I write about health and fitness, he sees us exercising and knows we do it for our health and wellbeing. And he decided he wanted to try resistance training.
So he found a beginner weight workout on YouTube, and he, Kid 3 and Mumby did it together. He enjoyed it so much he told us he wanted to do it every day.
Then Sunday, before lunch, he loaded up the same workout, and he and Kid 3 did it together again, sans Mumby.
Now, I’m not going to let him do weights every day because you absolutely need days off for muscle recovery. However I fully expect him to continue to pursue this until he meets whatever goal he sets for himself, for he is a very determined kid.
You always love them.
You’re normally proud of them.
But sometimes they do something that really makes you understand just how important you are in their lives.
