I have heard women say they have guilt about NOT working out. I am the opposite. My guilt is about (possibly) working out too much.
And let's be clear here: I have a lot of guilt over parenting.
I'm not a crafty mom. I don't do decorations very well for parties and such. I yell too much. I literally count the minutes down the last fifteen minutes before bedtime and I get exponentially more grumpy after bed. Every little ding bugs me more and more. I let my kids eat junk too much and I don't make dinner enough. I don't do family home evening as often as I should. I spend too much time on myself. I don't make it up to do lunch with my two school aged kids nearly as often as I should and I have never been a "room mom"!
I know a lot of other parents have guilt, too. One of the things I have felt worse and worse about is that I work out almost every morning. I have two daughters who are still at home. (A three year old and a two year old.) I work out almost every morning and I feel selfish because that hour and a half (workout and shower time) is time I could be spending to be crafty mom, or nutritious mom, or teachy-mom, and on and on.
I worked out like a nut when I was single. I worked out with Whitney (husband) when we first got married. After I had Eli, and Whit was in residency, we didn't feel good about putting him in the gym care so I worked out only when Whit was home--so not often. I did it as much as I could after Dora, too, but it wasn't a lot. Once Whit finished with residency, and we moved to Texas, we got a home gym and I began working out while my baby napped.
Once I had baby four, I would let baby three stay up and watch a TV show while I worked out during baby four's nap time. About six months ago, I started letting both stay awake while I work out. Because baby four (my now two year old-Amethyst) doesn't like to watch TV much, we have a play doh table the girls play on every single day, and my baby Tessa puts on gloves and pretends to work out with me a lot, too.
I understand there are some benefits for my kids that I work out. I am in good shape and can stay active with them. I teach them the importance of physical fitness by my example. I am happier and in a better mood when I have worked out. But of course, there's a flip side to that. I get grumpier when I miss my workout, too, and sometimes snappy when they interrupt me too much, which they do a lot!
I guess my question is whether I am justified in working out almost every day. Or should I scale it back to less? You wise, experienced moms out there, do you look back and wish you hadn't worked out as often? That you'd spent more time on healthy meals, prepared more crafts projects, taught them more? Instead of spending as much time on yourself? Or do you wish you'd spent more time working out and less on other things?? I am very aware of how fast the little ones grow up. I see them just getting bigger every second and I think that is what started this entire line of thought. When they were all tiny, I carved out time when I could because I was just in survival mode.
This week I have no wisdom to share. Only this question for you moms on the other side (and for those here with me, too): if you could go back, would you spend less time in the gym and more time with them?
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