"...is sore." a story about a mommy workout.

what? you don't ever think in facebook status update mode?  well i do.  and right now my inner-monologue facebook status update is this: "amy is sore."

i have complained pleasantly mentioned a few times how hard it's been to find a post-parker work out that works {read: i have time for/fits into my day/parker can be involved in}.  my favorite gym with my favorite classes doesn't have a daycare, my other gym {yes, i currently have two gym memberships} with a daycare is twenty minutes away & gets my kid sick every time we go, not to mention he's had a cold for two weeks now & wouldn't be allowed in the door anyway.  i occasionally manage to get out with my jogging stroller & run a few miles, but the closest enjoyable route is at least 20 minutes away & we all know the rain-free days here in the pacific northwest are numbered anyway.

have i made enough excuses yet?

yeah, i know there are a few other options... work out before or after sam is at work, work out at home, or ummm, not work out.  honestly, the only thing that's working for me right now is that last one.  and. it's. killing. me.

enter the reason i am sore today:  Stroller Strides.

oh yes, i have succumbed to that level of mommy-hood.  i laughed when i heard about it at first too.  a work out group that incorporates pushing your kid around in a stroller?  and then i thought about it & realized it was genius.  that is, if it worked.  i fancy myself a bit of an athlete, so i was skeptical at how this "mommy-group" would stack up.

nonetheless, i showed up at 9:30, jogging stroller in tow, parker all bundled up with sophie in hand, ready to see what it was all about.  slowly all the other moms started rolling into the parking lot & unloading their kids too.  there were about ten of us & many of them had more than one kid.  one girl even had three kids! ok, i was already impressed.

the moms were all super friendly despite clearly knowing each other well {at least on a we-work-out-together-a-few-times-a-week basis}, so I felt welcome right away.  probably cause they were all saying parker was cute, which is totally just a mommy thing to say - yet it wins me over every time.  seriously, you never get sick of hearing that.

once the work out started i felt a little silly, i'll be honest.  how seriously can you take yourself while doing bicep curls & singing the abc's?  or doing side shuffles to five little monkeys?  but here's the kicker.  parker looooved it.  he had a blast watching me skip around & do jumping jacks in front of his stroller & jumping squats that resulted in me popping below his cover to say "peek-a-boo!"  and then he fell asleep.  so that's cool.

i guess this might be what my life has come to.  a mommy work out group.  it's not exactly the high-intensity/sweat-dripping/muscles-quivering/instructor-yelling/music-pumping work out i've become accustomed to, but it was fun.  and it was social.

and i am sore.

will i get a membership? will i join the club?  will i pay $50/month to do something that i could do on my own (albeit, alone, unorganized, unscheduled & uninstructed)?  i'm not sure yet.  i have the weekend to sleep on it.

but i'm hoping i make my decision by next friday cuz that's kids-come-in-costume day.  and parker told me he really wants to show his halloween get-up to his new friends... so we'll see.