…which was not a figurative walk in the park.
One morning, we decided to take a walk to the park near our house. It’s not quite one mile to the playground, so it’s decent low-intensity exercise for Justin and me, and then we get a break while the kids play before heading back home.
This morning I packed peanut-butter-and-nutella sandwiches for the kids and me, managed to get everyone’s teeth brushed, shoes and jackets on, and Cecily’s necessities packed—and off we went.
To enhance the exercise component of the walk, we often go all the way to the river to take a look, then backtrack a bit to the playground. Today, as we were doubling back, Miryam asked if we could go “to the end of the trail.” There is a paved trail 1.25 miles long that runs along the river, which we’ve traversed a few times, but it requires a significant time commitment and enough snacks to keep mommy and children from getting hangry or fatigued.
I said Not today.
Justin said Why not?
I didn’t have a good reason. The weather was perfect: 50-something, mostly cloudy…just chilly enough to still not be hot even when walking, even pushing 65lbs worth of kids in the double stroller (Justin) or carrying 13lbs worth of baby in the Lillébaby (me). We had hours before the next item on the calendar. And we had better than snacks: we had sandwiches!
All right, then.
We looked for spiders in webs, we listened to birds, we peeked at the river a few more times when the path came close to the bank. Justin and I answered an endless string of questions from our curious four year old and observant two year old. We explained multiple times why there was a sign every quarter of a mile that said “Your 911 location is…”
At the end of the trail, I got Cecily out to nurse, and the kids were unbuckled from the stroller. They got a break from sitting, and Justin and I got a break from walking. When I unsnapped the carrier and sat down on the bench, my back and hips were unusually creaky. I had not walked that far since way back in the second trimester. My postpartum body doth protest.
The nearby helicopter plant was test-flying helicopters (our guess), so Miryam and Luke grinned at the sky listening to each one approach, identifying it, and watching it fly back and forth. Justin gave them a lesson on the Doppler Effect while I filled up the baby’s tummy.
We walked the 1.25 miles back to the playground, had play time, refused to push the kids on the swings. It’s your turn to exercise, little one. My turn to sit down. Walked back home.
Round trip it was close to five miles.
I guess I write about Mondays often, because this was another of my Monday night mom friends meeting nights. I should write about how that came about sometime.
The meeting was going to start at 8pm. I texted the group at 6pm that it already felt like 10pm to me (this was also shortly after “fall back” when it gets pitch black by 6pm) and they would have to keep me awake for the meeting. I was feeling that five mile walk.
Often, when I exercise, the tiredness doesn’t fully “hit” until after I’ve taken a shower later. Like the sweatiness is off, so now the tiredness can rise to the surface.
By the time I got home from my meeting, I knew sleeping was going to require ibuprofen. I couldn’t afford to waste any minutes, between getting into bed and falling asleep, on noticing my hurting legs, since there would be nothing to distract me from the dull soreness once I was trying to go to sleep. I have enough trouble falling asleep, even when I’m really tired.
My hips were lingeringly sore for a few days afterward. I told Justin we would need to do the 2.5 mile version of the walk more often before diving into the 5 mile version again, sandwiches or not. I like the idea of walking 5 miles often…but I’m barely recovered from pregnancy and childbirth, so let me take it slower still a while.
Tell me in the comments: what’s your favorite way to exercise with kids and babies around? “Grocery shopping while baby-wearing” counts 😉