mathmom's blog

Why leaf raking is the perfect exercise: It takes place outside in beautiful fall weather. It can be done while watching kids play outside. It isn't too hard, but can be done vigorously. It is something useful. It doesn't require too much thought, so you can think of other things. At the end, you have a great leaf pile to jump in. We have a pile about 2.5 feet tall and 6 feet in diameter---not as big as the piles of my youth, but still substantial. I've been raking for at least 30 minutes every day since last week. I'm not sure what can replace this exercise, since we don't live in snow shoveling country. Does anyone have any ideas?

I took the girls to their first martial arts lesson yesterday. I'd been looking around for some sort of physical activity for them---they both are taking string lessons, but I think there needs to be something more active. A friend of ours mentioned that the local studio is run and taught by women, and Ella thought that was pretty neat and wanted to try it. They got there and tried on their uniforms: both ended up being a little big, although Amanda's (the smallest size) really needs some taking up =) They got to sit on a spot on the floor, learn a few rules (don't be a bully was the most important one---don't abuse your Tae k won do). They learned a few rituals: bow to the flags (Ella correctly identified the Korean flag), tell the teacher "Thank you ma'am," jump up in the air and shout "Taekwondo!" Then they got to do a few punches and kicks into a small round foam circle. I think the main purpose of the exercises was to learn how to move ...

Yesterday Eleanor and I went to "Family Aerobics" at the gym. It is meant for kids older than 6 and their whole families---there were quite a few girls with their moms, but also dads and sons, and a few families. I think Eleanor mostly went because she wanted to see the mysterious "upper floor" of the gym ( cardio and weights)---only 12 year olds and up are allowed up there. She was pretty convinced that she wouldn't have any fun, and kept repeating that, but I'm not sure. We were called out just as class started to change Luke's diaper (they won't do it in the child care center), so we missed the warm up. The class was marching on these half ball things, which I think Eleanor would have enjoyed. We then played "jumping jack tag," and Eleanor got to be "it"(one of 3) for one of the games. Jumping jack tag is a bit like freeze tag, but you go to the edge of the room and do jumping jacks instead of being frozen. Also, you ...