A Workout Within My Workout

Working out at home is very convenient, but it also has it's challenges. In my home, those challenges are named Claire and Sarah. Some days, I work out and they are precious. They come in and try to work out with me. Watching Sarah attempt push ups or Claire and her awkward jumping jacks will bring a smile to my face even as I am covered in sweat and quietly bad mouthing Jillian Michaels and her insane workout.

Then there are days like today. Days when the girls are a constant interruption. Today, I started the workout and  no sooner did I finish the warm-up than Claire comes in with a problem. She needed to go potty and the toilet paper was out. Fair enough. Not her fault. She certainly can't fix that problem on her own. I'm on it.

A few minutes later I am back to my workout. I have just gotten my heart rate up when Claire waltzes back in the room with another of her dilemmas. Apparently she can't find her blanket or chicky toy. Between gasps of breath, I tell her to keep looking and I'll help her find them later. She retreats only to come back one minute later with tears in her eyes. This child cannot rest or relax without the aforementioned items. I know that if I don't stop and help her find them, she will not leave me alone for the remainder of my workout and it will be well worth my efforts to find them now. So I take another quick break and find the items. I hand them over to Claire just as my heart rate has returned to its normal, resting rhythm.

I usher Claire into the playroom and turn on a cartoon for her giving me added assurance that I will have at least 30 minutes of peace. Claire is now resting comfortably with her blanket and chicky.  And for extra insurance, I decide to give Sarah the MobiGo. You may remember her love of this item from a previous post. I was now positive that I would have an interruption free workout session. You know what positive means? It means wrong at the top of your voice. Wrong, wrong, wrong.

I was barely back into the workout when Sarah comes in the room saying, "It's broken!" I look down and see that she has pulled out the game cartridge from the MobiGo. This is a new skill she acquired recently and she has yet to learn how to reinsert said cartridge. I quickly stop to fix this problem and now Sarah decides to stand and play right in the middle of the living room. Right in the middle where I am trying to exercise. I try to dodge around her a few times and only manage to step on her and almost trip and injure the both of us. So I gently push her aside trying to convince her to move elsewhere.

A short two minutes later, Sarah has discarded the MobiGo for a new toy:  my water bottle. It is sealed shut so I don't worry about it and continue the workout. Mistake. My crafty little tinker tot manages to open the bottle and before I can get to her, she tumps it and pours the entire contents on the living room carpet. I'll spare you having to read the thoughts that were screaming through my head at that moment. I stop to gather a few towels and begin the clean up process. Then I escort Sarah back into the playroom where Claire is still happily watching her cartoon and shut the door.

Back at it, I finally have my heart rate back to where it is supposed to be for calorie burn when I see trouble brewing through the glass panes of the playroom door. Sarah has walked over to Claire and taken her blanket away. Now this is something we are working on right now. Sarah's blanket looks very similar to Claire's and she often mistakes it for her own. Claire knows this and knows that the proper protocol for this situation is to ask Sarah for the blanket back and if she doesn't give it to her, she is to come find Mommy or Daddy so we can help. Do you think that is how it went down on this, my day of crazy interruptions? Nope.

As I watch, Claire violently pulls the blanket away and hits Sarah with enough force to knock her down to the ground. Wailing ensues. I, of course, can't let this go for many reasons. So I pause the DVD and head into the playroom to kick some serious tail calmly discipline and reinforce what Claire already knows.

By the time all that is done, I am OVER trying to exercise. I call it a bust for the day and turn off the DVD. I will live to exercise another day. Hopefully my children will too. I guess some days motherhood is its own form of exercise.