Not a Pinterest Life, Part 1

It was a typical day in the life of a toddler, with his mother barely keeping up behind him. By the time they’d been awake for not even an hour, a choice had to be made; be amused, or give up! I was that mother, my Little Man was that toddler, and this is how we kept each other amused that day…

Naturally, I have no time for a shower. As soon as he wakes up, Little Man is eager for action. Since a long road trip last month when he was allowed to watch “Winnie the Pooh” and “Thomas & Friends” to his heart’s content, the carseat has held an oddly powerful sway over LM’s imagination. Before I can even get him dressed, “Dah-sea” is the ceaseless cry.

“No, buddy, not yet. It’s too early to go play in your carseat,” while I try to find a clean pair of socks. Victorious, I turn to find him peeling nasty dead skin in huge sheets from his toes. Having recently recovered from Hand Foot and Mouth disease, we were unpleasantly surprised to find out about this nasty final symptom… You basically exfoliate entire fingers and toes at a time. “Lllllucky” is LM’s reaction to his bright red toe underneath. We are still working on “y”, not “l” sounds.

Determined to accomplish one task in my house this day, I grab the broom and go to work on the kitchen floor. Just as I have nearly finished, with 3 piles to show for my effort, my husband calls. First mistake – I set down the broom. Second mistake- I turn my back. The inevitable result of my carelessness? As I chat with the hubby I turn to find my very helpful toddler “sweeping” through my piles and redistributing them throughout my kitchen. Ah, well. One must learn very quickly to not be too fussy about appearances and spotlessness. Or not learn, and go crazy. Next we tackle the bathrooms. If you want some excitement, try using a toilet bowl brush in front of your toddler, combined with minty-fresh scented cleaner, and then keep him from using that same brush to “clean” the floors when you’re not looking.

Okay, house is tidy, sorta, and it’s time to attempt a workout.

I take my Herbalife24 Prepare 

to help myself believe that I am 

100% committed to completing this workout. 

 As I put in the dvd and grab my mat, I am at least reassured that he’s seen this routine often enough to recognize it, and yell out “Ah-cize!!!!” Great, small victory, my son believes exercise is fun and exciting. In fact, while I start with jumping jacks, he attempts his own comically flailing version as well.
 Here’s when it gets exciting. After getting through the warmup, I grab some weights and start with squats. In this exact moment, Little Man decides that he MUST take his pants off, or disintegrate. Well, I don’t want to lose all of my momentum, so I decide to just talk him through the process.

“Buddy, your pants are stuck because you have your slippers on. Take your slippers off.”

“PANTS OFF!!!!!!!” Hmmm, I’m not getting through.

“Kiddo, I understand. Start with your slippers, then your pants.”

“PANTS PANTS OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF!!!!”

“Yes, I understand. But mommy is busy. You may not yell at me. Timeout, please.”

Miraculously, he actually goes to timeout. After a minute, I call out to let him come back. By this time, I am doing mat work and can grab the slippers, then the pants, between crunches. Now that his pants are off, he feels free to have a sit on my tummy/abs (it depends on the day!), and attempts to hug me…  

Next he moves into his Tonka Truck and tries to run over my head with it, yelling, “Vroom, Vroooooooooom!”

“Buddy, enough with the truck please. Be gentle with mommy.” Gentle, hmmm…. 

Next thing I know there’s a hairbrush being dragged through my ponytail. I disentangle my brush and move on to bicycle crunches, the worst most awful exercise ever. And much harder when you are laughing because your toddler now has his head between your legs saying, “Hi Mommy!” 

As if the comedy isn’t enough already, he brings me his treasured bubble wands and puts one up to my mouth to “bo bubboos” every time my head rises. No matter what I try, he finds a way to be involved. And since this is reality with a toddler and home workout combo, I try to just keep laughing and redirecting, as patiently as possible. How does he thank me?   He backs right up to my face as he stares in fascination at the screen, and then… Yep, he poops. The odor is overwhelming, and he’s grinning. I make a quick decision that since I’m already 15 minutes into a 20 minute routine, I’m just gonna push through and change it as soon as I’m done stretching. 

Of course, no sooner do I start to stretch than the phone rings.

Check back in two days for the sequel, we're only half way through the morning!

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Disclaimer - Research shows that those people having a Formula 1 meal replacement shake twice daily as part of a healthy eating and exercise plan can reasonably expect to lose 1/2 to 1 lb a week. And the average annual compensation provided by Herbalife to its distributors at the Supervisor position with a downline is approximately $5,800. I have chosen to consistently follow my Herbalife nutrition plan and work hard at running my business, which is the reason for my personal results.