Remember Who Is Watching

I don’t know about you, but we’ve had A LOT of rain here in Indiana over the last few days. It has been grey, droopy and just gross outside. The weather mixed in with allergies put me in a little bit of a funk this weekend. Nothing was wrong that should have put me there but I was stressing about things I shouldn’t stress about, I was tired from Baby B playing the up all night game and I was fighting a headache thanks to allergies.

After watching Gracie’s Journey’s latest video about her comeback, I found sudden motivation to go for a run on Sunday afternoon. I thought maybe a little run on the treadmill to see if it would snap me out of this funk. When I told Little Man he immediately asked if he could come down to the basement to do his exercises. The run itself felt great, but it was the reminder of ‘remember who is watching’ that snapped me out of my funk.

Say what?

Okay, let’s back up a little bit.

When I started working out again Little Man was about to turn 1. I was unhappy with how I looked, how I felt and I knew that I needed to work on getting back in shape. At the time I started working out I was convinced I was doing it for me. The more I fell in love with running again the more I realized it wasn’t just for me. Well, technically I run for my sanity but I also run for my boys…to stay healthy for them and to set an example for them.

Finishing That First Half Marathon

Two and a half years ago I finished my first half marathon. It was tough… mentally and physically it was a lot rougher than I thought it would be. At mile 11 I was struggling big time when I came up to my family cheering me on. Little Man (who was 20 months old at the time) gave me a high five. It was enough to remind me to push through to the end and it was that simple reminder to remember who is watching.

To this day Little Man’s high five is one of my favorite pictures. Little Man might not remember the day but I will remember every single one of those miles whether I want to or not.

These days Little Man is typically asleep while I do my morning runs but Baby B has become a regular “cheerleader” while I run. He is typically up and ready to go in the mornings long before I am. If I’m lucky he’ll let me sneak in 3-4 miles a few times a week. Typically he will spend the time talking to me, rolling around around and getting into as much wrapping paper as possible before I stop him. I know it won’t last forever (or maybe it will? he really doesn’t like sleep) but for now I enjoy our mornings together “working out”.

Mommy Can We Do Our Exercises?

A few months ago I decided to start doing more at home workouts to supplement running. I was looking for quick body weight workouts to do in the evening when we had a little bit of downtime. Pinterest had some awesome workouts and even some that were great for the whole family. One night I asked Little Man if he wanted to exercise with me. He was so excited and immediately ran to get dressed in a pair of running pants his cousins bought him.

With a set of 2lb weights he comes down to join me once or twice a week now for some exercises. Typically he lasts about 5 minutes and then will move on to listening to music and just playing in the basement. To be honest, I didn’t think too much of it until this past weekend. Up until this point, we simply were having fun together.

Sunday afternoon when I told Little Man I was going to run, he immediately asked if he could come with me. I told him he could play with his weights and the cars while I used the treadmill. He was sold. We turned on his playlist on Spotify and he started having his own little dance party.

About two miles into my run I noticed he had slowed down and was just laying on the weight bench. He was watching the treadmill and my feet moving on it. When I asked him if he was okay his response was:

“Mommy, you’re going super cat speed”

PJ Masks reference anyone? For those of you who are not lucky enough to have a world filled with Catboy, Gekko and Owlet… he was referencing Catboy’s super power… he can go “super cat speed” to get wherever he wants, as fast as he wants.

“This Is My Bite Song”

Little Man’s comment made me think a lot for the rest of my run. I always thought of our exercise time together as just another game. To be honest, I’m assuming that is how he sees it. It’s fun. We listen to music, we dance, we’re active and we do some exercises at the same time. I can only hope that he’ll continue to see it that way for a long time. He might not be able to run with me on the treadmill, but his presences is a motivating factor in itself.

I had only planned on running 4 miles. Little Man was content and we were having a good time listening to his favorite songs. Suddenly I decided I needed to add on another mile and get to 5. That little funk I was in was gone and I had the motivation I needed to keep going.

When it comes to running I go in phases with pump up songs also known as songs that get me going. Right now Fight Song is my go to song and has been since I started running again last Fall. The best runs end with it as loud as possible.

As luck would have it Little Man suddenly has become obsessed with that song and asked to add it to his playlist this weekend. Around mile 4.8 the song came on again for the second time since I had started my run. He doesn’t quite understand what the lyrics mean or what they exactly are. As I finished my run Little Man was yelling at the top of his lungs “This Is My Bite Song” and it was the PERFECT way to end my run. Everything I had been thinking about “remember who is watching” was summed up in that moment.

Remember Who Is Watching

This is a very long winded way of saying that sometimes we need to take a step back from what we’re doing daily and remember who is watching. Whether it be exercising, eating healthy, picking a show to watch, etc. Little Man won’t be little forever, neither will Baby B. Soon my morning runs will be mine again. Baby B (maybe) will start sleeping through the night. They’ll go on to play their own sports and do their own things.

In the mean time I am trying not to be stressed if they come along for my morning run. It may result in more breaks, needing to stop and pull wrapping paper out of Baby B’s hands or get Little Man a drink but they’re seeing someone exercise. I need to remind myself as much as possible to remember who is watching. Those little eyes peaking over at the treadmill are the biggest motivation. They are the reason I strive to do my best each day. You never know, maybe some day they’ll join me for a real run.

Do you ever take a step back to remember who is watching?
Do you like to exercise with your kids or alone?