Six fitness lessons Ive learned from my child.

by

Last week was heaven.

Five full Tornado & Me days which were reminiscent of all our time before Kinder started.

We laughed, we cried (seriously. all that one-on-one time was NOT without its bickering!) it was better than Cats.

What I loved most was the fact we didn’t travel.

We hung here & just spent time together.  Time which caused me to marvel at how she’s matured & reflect back on all Ive learned *from* her the past six years.

In chronological order please to enjoy.

1.  Cardio can be creative. You, oh Tornado, were a crier.  All the time.  Needed or not.  You cried till you became red in the face and (as we searched for late night levity) we joked you appeared to be winded from the workout.  What did I learn from that? Anything done long enough & with enough tenacity/focus (hello bubblewrap!) can be cardio!  You taught me to skip (it) the traditional & let my imagination soar.

Getting your workout on.

 

2 . Pull-ups are fun!   Back in the day, before you were The Tornado, we referred to you as Toddler Freaky Strong.  The moment I’d dump you in the pack and play so I could finally shower set you in the P&P so I could work you’d commence pulling upward along the side.  Happily.  You’d smile, giggle, do pull-ups to fatigue never once complaining or shouting “Hey!! can I get a spot up in herre?!”  What did I learn from that? Pull-ups dont have to be a dreaded to-do on my back workout schedule.  The mere challenge of them & the faces I make as I struggle upward can!be!fun!

Practicing pull-ups poolside.

 

3.  Eat mindfully!  Now, to be clear, I discovered the importance of mindful eating long before you hit the scene.  With the addition of you, however, I began to rush through my self-care (fitness to food) in order to return to you-care.  Then you turned three.  You began to express a clear opinion as to what you wanted to eat & when you wanted to eat it.  You’d share these thoughts (slowly) and happily (slowly) ate what you ‘ordered.’  What did I re-learn from this? You weren’t annoyingingly slow at all—merely mindful.  You *paused* to ask yourself if you were hungry.  You s-l-o-w-l-y ate your food savoring, tasting, touching, EMBRACING each bite.  You reminded me to be more mindful.

The inexplicable chop sticks phase.

 

4. Wind-down routines ROCK.  I’ve always lamented the fact Im a poor sleeper.  I’d go to bed different times each night with absolutely, positively no method to my nighttime madness.  Id watch TV in bed.  I’d check email from bed.  I was a wind-down mess.  Then you came along.  You thrived on routine & practically demanded a strict nighttime regimen.   One small deviation from this plan and you’d not fall asleep.  What did I learn from this?  I need to sleep like a child, too.  Ive never slept better.

Pink princess PJs help.


5.  If at first you dont succeed—QUIT.  I’d known this at one point & somehow forgotten until you dancingly reminded me.  You “just knew” you wanted to take ballet.   You longed to learn to dance like the ‘pretty ladies.’  You tried, you loathed, you quit, you never looked back.  After two classes (the class leaped delicately as instructed over a stuffed bunny. you stopped, KICKED SAID BUNNY, and leaped away) you declared yourself done.  You informed me you’d prefer soccer and you’ve never looked back.  What did I learn? I re-learned there’s no percentage in sticking with something I know is not a fit for me.  I reminded myself I *know* when I long to quit out of fear and when I’m merely banging my head against the wall kicking a bunny.

Kicking encouraged.


6. Read the wall.  This is one we learned together over spring break.  Somehow Id forgotten all the lessons Id learned from climbing and needed you to remind me of them.  Life can be overwhelming and, at times, I plunge ahead without looking, scanning, planning or preparing.  In fitness I’m slowly learning I need to have a plan, too.   Spontaneous is great—but only goes so far.   I need to look ahead, read the wall, and prepare for what I want to achieve down the road.  Muscling my way through works—-but only in the short-term.

 

"Watch and remember, Mama."

 

In the moment I couldn’t see any of these concepts being “taught.”  It’s only with hindsight I see my greatest teacher is a six year old Tornado.

Have you, too, learned healthy living lessons in surprising places?

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Comments

  1. It’s funny that you bring that up about most kids eating mindfully because I recently took note of that too! Watching them eat is completely different from watching adults eat– they will pick tiny pieces until they are full and stop.

    Maybe we should ALL re-learn this from children!

  2. I love the “read the wall” piece, Miz.
    I just took the kids I nanny for rock climbing too!!

  5. I see kids quitting all the time when I sub in schools.
    Unlike us they always head to a different activity.

    Great point.

  6. You know, I think about some of this all the time. I remember riding my bike for hours, just because I loved riding my bike. I remember running just to run, when Skip-It was fun, and climbing trees, pushing around massive snow balls to make a snow man, and running up the hills dragging a sled wasn’t “exercise”, it was play.

    When I first started losing weight, I used to dream that I was running in my old front yard. My arms were out like I was flying… and I had this feeling of unspeakable joy.

    … now if I only knew how to recapture that feeeling…

  10. I tend to stick with things long after they’ve stopped working for me.
    I should learn from the Tornado.

  13. Lessons are everywhere if we are only open to hear them. I think I need to clean out my ears. 🙂

    Fun look at the T through the years. I think I met her somewhere around the lesson #4 mark and look at her now.

  14. Such a sweet post! Kay has taught me SO much already- mostly to value every minute! I can only imagine the lessons to come

  15. Left me with a smile! Love all her lessons to you–smart mama for picking up on them!

    And she has been adorable since the beginning…

  16. this is why i love hanging out with my nieces and nephews. Yes, they are full of energy but they are full of life, like little tornado. and they slow down to enjoy the good parts, like snacks. hehe.

  17. My wee ones do eat mindfully…

    When they were little they would chew, touch, lick and move food around in their mouths until they had enjoyed it to the fullest. Once they were full they were done. No questions asked.

    Now that they’re older (11 and 4) they’re learning bad “grown up” habits either from school or friends. I teach them plenty of bad habits (mixed in with good ones) but this isn’t my doing.

    They take two or three bites of dinner, declare themselves to be “full” and quizzically ask, “what’s for dessert?” They tend to get upset when I say, “peanut butter and apples – after you eat your brussel sprouts.”

    Being reminded that their friends get Oreos or candy or ice cream can be frustrating, but I continue to remind them that those are “once in a while” treats.

    For all of my life I will continue to teach my girls what I can, hope that they prefer my habits over their friends and know that we are both always learning from each other. 🙂

  19. Oh I love this post! Such great lessons. Kids teach me so much. They remind me what we should naturally do on a daily basis.

    Adorable pics!!

  20. I was a camp counselor for years and definitely learned to put the fun back in fitness from my youngsters!

  21. What did I learn from this post – I learned that I can learn from Tornado & her wonderful mom! Just made me smile HUGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  22. I love these lessons. Kids really are insightful, huh? They aren’t bogged down with all the notions of what we should or should not do. They just go with their gut and are the best teachers.

    I think that my favorite is “You’d share these thoughts (slowly) and happily (slowly) ate what you ‘ordered.;” The slow eating and constant questions would drive me crazy! But you know what? When I let my kids just eat how they eat, it’s a much more pleasant dinner and we get to chat. Who cares if the food gets cold if it doesn’t bother them?

  23. There are heaps of lessons I could learn here Miz. From the mindfulness, to the knowing when to quit (for the right reasons) and the need to be creative and have FUN.

    I don’t have children but spent a lot of time with my niece when she was little. Recently my mother and I watched heaps of DVDs of her when she was young (about 3-4yrs or so; as she’s now 15yrs) and I was enchanted because she was such a HAPPY child and found joy in everything. That’s certainly a lesson I need to take away.

    Deb

  25. Wonderful post! I too learned that quitting is okay (so long as it’s not mid-season.) I tried gymnastics. I tried dance. But even at 4, I guess soccer just stuck. 13 years later, I was glad Mom had my trying different things.

  29. I’ve never seen a baby pic of La Tornado!! And I love the pink pj pic – so sweet!!

    All great lessons that I too need to relearn. Thanks for sharing!

  30. Love this post! When I was younger, my parents used to call me CONAN. Why?! Because I destroyed and broke everything in sight.

    Quitting always sounds like failure. Honestly, if you know something isn’t right for you, stop. Find something else to try and keep going! Just don’t give up simply because you think you can’t do something…that would be considered quitting (on yourself).

    I learn loads from my younger siblings and how it is they strive to achieve their goals (be it in sports, healthy eating, what have you…) 🙂

  33. Wow. This is SO insightful — the things you notice as a parent and how kids approach every little thing in life? It’s really how we ought to be approaching every little thing in life too. If you’re not hungry, don’t eat. If you don’t like a particular sport, stop playing it. Kids aren’t succumbing to doing what they think they “have” to do in life because they aren’t faced with a million options and pressures in life like we are as adults. The mindful eating thing was especially intriguing to me. WHAT a great post, yet again. LOVE!

  35. Wow, I really love this article and the way you wrote it like a letter to your daughter. Its true we acquire knowledge throughout life that we don’t necessarily see ourselves learning in the moment, but look back and say “Ah-hah!” These fitness lessons are all good ones, and interesting in the way you were taught by your own child about them. I like that you address how little kids like to try different things, but quickly learn which are for them and which they hate. I also have began to learn which exercises and fitness routines are for me, and which I need to write-off completely. Great post!

  36. There is so much joy in her little face, it makes my heart ache. Lovely post Carla! Also, this line: “it was better than Cats.” And your skull plate. Awesome 🙂

  37. Don’t you love how many lessons we can learn from our children? They probably teach us as parents as much, if not more, than we teach them. Thanks for sharing some really great insights!

  39. I love that it’s a universal truth that our kids are 1)smarter than we are 2)better teachers than we are 3)wise in the ways of the world. I’ve learned countless lessons from my 2 year old and he still refers to himself in the 3rd person. Perhaps there’s a lesson in that 🙂

  40. I LOVE this.

    My son has taught me so many of these as well.

    Just the other night he walked me through stretching and yoga poses he’d learned in his kids yoga class and during TKD.

    It was hilarious fun. And you know what? It opened my hips and I felt great the next day.

    Kids rock.

  41. As always, positive post that made me smile. My fiancee has a sweet 3 year-old girl (who I consider my own at this point). She is SO ACTIVE. She keeps asking me when I will teach her to climb trees, and I tell her she just needs to get a little taller. I also do “baby bench presses” with her (which she loves) and I taught her squats–which she does with decent form–and proudly proclaims, “Dan, I’m doin’ my exercises!” Good times, right? 🙂

  42. I love this post! I wonder what kinds of things my kids will teach me when I have them. One thing that I always seem to be reminded of when I’m around kids is that the world is our playground- they can have so much fun with the most random things and so many of us lose that imagination and joy as we get older!

  44. Its amazing what kids can teach you. My biggest… was patience. I never knew I had that much patience in me. 😉

    Awesome post, Carla.

    I also learned to open my eyes wide and see the beauty in the world again through being naive & innocent. To explore.

  45. It seems I learn lessons from many unexpected sources, including my cats…and my stepkids. Not all necessarily health and fitness related, but in my mind, it’s ALL related in the end 🙂

  47. I love #5. Not that I promote quitting but why waste time on something you don’t like. And there’s no shame in trying new things in an attempt to find what is right for you!

  48. The great thing is that thanks to your blog, thousands of other folks get the benefit of Tornadowisdom too!

    Plus pictures of her just make me smile… 🙂

  49. Love this post. Its funny because I was thinking about the same thing — in two really specific areas. (1) kids really stop eating when they are full and then we “force” them to “polish the plate” or “come in here and eat, its time.” Its almost like we nuke the “intuitive eating” out of them? (2) During spring break, we went to a fishing park…while there, my kids seriously took every opportunity to climb, run, jump. I’m forcing myself to do stepups and they are willingling jumping on benches, walking the curb — anything at all but walking in a straight line. Very interesting….

    🙂 Always thought provoking Miz. That’s why I <3 you.

  51. Oh Carla- just LOVE it. Only one of my guys eats mindfully, the other shoves it in his face like his mama. Ha! 🙂 Oh and to sleep like a baby (even nap like one) would be a dream. 🙂

  52. If only I could follow the eating habits of my 9 year old. When she feels full she stops eating. She also eats a pretty well balanced meals, veggies included.

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