I don't like exercise. I should say I don't like to plan to exercise. If I'm sitting at my computer desk and an elliptical machine magically replaces my chair, then hey I might just exercise. Although I think it might be a bit hard to use a mouse while doing that swinging arm motion.

I have a good reason to be wary of planning an exercise routine. Each time I began a serious exercise regiment (personal trainers, joining the Y), I became pregnant. 5 kids later, I learned my lesson. No exercise!

But as I fast approach 30 (eek!) and the years of Mountain Dew and eating random not-so-healthy things catch up to me, I'm a few pounds more than I'd like to be. And since there's no longer a chance of me becoming pregnant again (thank you tubal ligation!), I really shouldn't be afraid of an exercise plan.

I have to admit I'm lazy. And I can't even really use the 5 kids as an excuse not to work out because our gym/pool club allows 2 hours of day care there each day. I suppose I could complain about how much work it is to load them all up, drive 15 minutes, and sign them all in but that's just being silly. And as most people would point out, I can do sit ups, push ups, and squats without even leaving my living room.

Now then if someone could just help me find a free minute to do this new exercise plan, I'd appreciate it. "Running after 5 kids" isn't keeping my tummy flat or slimming down my thighs as much as I wish it would. Maybe a piece of work out equipment as a desk chair isn't such a bad idea after all. As long as I can still use a mouse of course.



Katie Fleck is a stay at home mom of five, Zach (10 years), Emily and Ally (8 1/2 year old identical twins), Kyle (5 1/2 years), and Kelly (4 1/2 years old). On a quest for a self cleaning house and 27 hour days, she writes at Ramblings of a SAHM

Just do it...easier said than done in a large family

I LOVE to exercise. I crave it and am well aware of how it directly has an impact on my ability to relate to people...as in, my children. If I don't get out and move in the sunshine by myself every now and then, well, let's just say things are less than stellar around our house.

BC (before children) my husband and I were very active. We participated in triathlons, sailed, surfed and spent most of our free time outdoors. It was just our lifestyle, and we loved it.

When we had our first child, we slowed down a bit. More like coming to a screeching halt than slowing down. Our son, this amazing creature that came into our lives, became our focus. He became our lifestyle. We jumped right into parenthood and all that it brings, and our outdoor life took a much needed backseat.

When we finally came up from our wonderstruck world, we both realized that taking care of our son also meant taking care of ourselves. We needed to be healthy and happy parents, and at 8 months post-delivery, the 40 extra pounds I was carrying around could not be considered "baby fat" anymore.

Childbirth! Oh boy, does it change your body. I never realized that my body could stretch that far out, and when the weight started coming off, the elastic didn't snap back into my old form. I really had to work at it, and that is hard to do with a baby who is breatfeeding.

I made all the mistakes a breastfeeding mother should avoid. I went on a low calorie diet. Although it was a healthy, balanced diet, the calories were not sufficient to insure milk production. After 3 weeks on the diet, my milk dried up and my son weaned.....before I was ready. In hindsight, I know that he had been leading up to this for a month before the diet, and my low production just hammered it on home, but I was still very sad.

I also did not drink enough water, even though I was walking 4-6 miles a day.

I ended up losing over 48lbs, and because I combined a healthy diet and exercise, I was also lean and maintained all of my muscle mass. The problem was that I didn't realize my mistakes in regards to the breastfeeding until it was too late.

Lessons learned for those out there who just had a baby, are nursing and want to start shedding some pounds?

*Find a diet that is meant for a nursing mother. The calories will be adequate to help you retain adequate milk production AND help you shed pounds.

*Drink no less than 8-8oz glasses of water a day. It will not mask weight loss. It is very important to remain hydrated while breast feeding your baby. Fluid in means fluid out.

*Start slow with whatever exercise routine you chose, and build up...and make sure that your diet is adequate for the amount of calories you are burning in addition to the calories needed to produce an adequate milk supply.

*Keep nursing that baby frequently. The more you nurse, the more you produce, and nursing is also an excellent and natural way to steadily lose weight.

So, you may say, this is all fine with one kid, or even 2. Throw them in a double stroller and go. How do you manage to exercise when you have 3, 4 or more kids?

Yes, this is an issue. You have to get a bit more creative, and plan it out, but it can be done.

My husband and I take turns; one watching the kids while the other takes a 30 minute run. I also have my oldest son hold down the fort while I go for a short run during nap time and early in the morning before the little ones wake up. Some of my friends and I also do "kid swap" to give each other some "mom time".

It can be done. Just get creative, stay hydrated, eat a well balanced diet, but most importantly have fun. After all, the whole point of getting outside is to better your body and spirit, so don't stress it. If you can't get out by yourself, get outside with your family. You know the saying...the family that plays together stays together.



---------------------------

Jody is a SAHM to 4 active kiddos ages 12, 9, 6 and 3. She blogs at and baby makes 6! when she isn't surfing or sailing with her family.

Exercise Streaking

Since April of 2006, I've been on a journey toward better health and smaller pants. I've lost 56 pounds . . . yet feel the need to confess that I still want to lose 20 more pounds. I've been stuck at 170 pounds for six months, but that's neither here nor there. (Frankly, I'm kind of impressed by my plateau, because that means I'm not regaining the lost weight, something I've had a knack for doing for the past fifteen years.)

But, what about exercise? You might not believe me, but I haven't missed a day of exercise in over a year. I started an exercise streak in August of 2006, determined to exercise every single day for as long as possible. I'm still at it.

How? Well, first of all, I made it impossible to use an excuse. No time to get to the YMCA? I have an exercise bike in my bedroom. In my bedroom, it does not rain, so the weather is no issue. In my bedroom, I can exercise at any time, so it's never "too late." (On Christmas Eve, I exercised from 11:40 p.m. until midnight, but usually, I exercise in the early evening for forty-five minutes while the kids were bathing and heading to bed.) Too boring? I read or watch television while I sweat.

Last spring, a friend and I decided to walk in the mornings. You should know that I am not a morning person. I am unable to sleep before 10 p.m., even when I try. However, mornings are the only time we could meet for a daily walk, so we agreed on 6:30 a.m.

I hate this agreement with a fiery passion from about 6:15 a.m. until 6:20 a.m. At 6:20 a.m., I wearily stagger from bed, slip on my exercise gear, brush my teeth, put on my glasses and drive three minutes to my friend's house. We walk three and a half miles through our hilly town, chatting usually, yawning occasionally.

Having a buddy waiting for me gets me out of bed. And by 7:35 a.m., I'm finished with my exercise for the day. I love that almost as much as I love the shape of my strong legs now. I don't quite get enough sleep, but I gladly sacrifice it for the energy walking gives me.

I started my journey to lose weight and get in shape this time not out of vanity and a longing for smaller pants. No, this time shedding the pounds was about health. I took a clear-eyed look at my own mother, only twenty years older than me and realized that if I didn't change the direction my 226 pound body was heading, I'd end up like her, using a cane, driving around in a car with a handicapped placard, breathing hard just putting away dishes.

I want to be healthy and active as long as possible. If I waited until my kids were all grown or until exercising and dieting became convenient, I'd be finally taking up yoga when I live in a nursing home. (Only a slight exaggeration--when my youngest child will be 18, I will be 56.)

There's never a perfect time to exercise. But we find time to do the things that are important to us and for me, that includes daily exercise, even on Christmas Day.

* * *

Melodee blogs about her diet at The Amazing Shrinking Mom and about her life at Actual Unretouched Photo. She has four kids, three cats, two feet and one husband.

Staying fit?

For my birthday, my stepmother and dad gave me a bike. I was very excited. Though I've always loved biking, I haven't been on one in years. A few months ago, I picked up a double bike trailer on the cheap and now that I have both pieces (plus my trusty new hot-pink helmet!) I figured I'd be one of those moms you see wheeling all over town with her kids in tow.

So tonight I decided to take the girl out for her first spin around my block (alone) and I discovered a couple of things:

1) Street biking in the city is terrifying! Especially for the newbie who's never biked anywhere but on paths, sidewalks, and rural roads, and
2) Even when you're not pulling anything, biking is hard work. Like, legs burning, chest aching, arms wobbling hard. No wonder I was so skinny when I was a kid and took my bike everywhere.

So, though I'd seen the bike-plus-trailer combo as my fitness savior, I'm having second thoughts now. For one thing, I'm so totally not ready to be pulling my kids around behind me yet. First I need a rear-view mirror, some reflective strips, confidence, and a lot more skill. Oh yeah...I also need to built up some endurance so I won't be wheezing by the time I reach my corner.

And if I can't bring the kids with me, that leaves me basically no time to bike. My husband doesn't get home until 7 many nights, and by the time we all eat dinner together it's dark out. And there is absolutely no way I'm doing any biking in the dark until I'm better at it!

So the bike will be, at least until I am more confident, saved for daytime, weekend excursions. And that's fine...except I was really hoping I'd be able to take it around town and end up fitter in the process. I guess I need a plan B.

As a mom of four I've figured out how to make time for most of the things that make me a happier, healthier, better person: eating well, even if it's simple (salads, granola and yogurt, raw fruits and veggies, etc). Writing and creative expression. Time to think and reflect. Time to read. A bath here and there to unwind. But exercise? That's one thing that has been a real challenge to do consistently. I know I need to, but it's hard. It's expensive to get that family membership to the Y, and then what do you do with four different kids of four different ages while you're there? (assuming your Y has babysitting services that are open during normal hours instead of from 8-11 every other Tuesday or something). I try to fit in a yoga class here and there, but those generally take an hour and a half plus drive time, and I can't always grab that much time all at once because of Jon's work schedule. Walking is great, but even when I stick the littles in a stroller, the big ones don't always walk fast enough for me to get any kind of workout from it and they aren't old enough to be left at home yet. Doing an exercise tape at home? Well, any mom who's ever had a child jump on her back while doing the "cat-cow" on-all-fours stretch or had a toddler step on her stomach in the middle of a set of crunches knows that doesn't always work. And the more kids you have, the more opportunity there is for many different small people to interrupt in their many different ways. (I'd love to hear how our moms of 10 and 12 handle this!!!)

For some moms the answer might just be "this too shall pass", but I find that if I don't get some form of physical activity I get cranky, restless and this strange sensation like I want to crawl out of my skin comes over me. I need it, and I'm a calmer person/better mom when I get it. But how?

The thing is, I know that a lot of time roadblocks that get in my way aren't really real. There is a solution for nearly every problem if I'm willing to suss it out. And thinking about the biking dilemma has got me brainstorming some possible solutions for getting fit while caring for the family:

• We have a park near our house with a winding path that circles around the playground area. I could take all four of the boys to the park, then let the older three play at the playground while I push the baby around the path in the stroller. There are certain points where they'd be a hundred or so yards away, but since Jacob's almost 10 and perfectly capable of waving his arms and yelling to me if I'm needed, I think I'm okay with that.
• As part of Jacob's chore list, I could ask him to watch Owen in his bedroom while I do a video in another part of the house. I don't mind if William is in the room with me--he'll laugh at me, but at least he won't jump on me.
• I could exercise during Owen's nap. This will be hard for me as I hate giving up his nap time to do anything that feels too, well, luxurious (like sweating through push-ups???) I always feel like I should be hauling butt to clean the kitchen or work toward a writing deadline when he's zonked. But even twenty minutes of moving is better than nothing, and maybe I'll have even more energy for cleaning and writing afterward.
• I could...gulp...get up early in the morning, before Jon or the kids, and go for a ride or walk then. This would be the hardest of all, since I'm a late-night worker, love my sleep, and don't get nearly enough with a toddler who still wakes during the night. But there is something fantastic about being outside early in the morning (once you get past the actual *waking up* part) and it would be a great way to start the day....if only I can actually force myself out of bed.

So there are some possible solutions for us--now the tricky part is putting them into play. My goal? To try each one out over the next couple of weeks and see which works the best. And over the next couple of weeks, I'd love to hear about how the rest of our bloggers--and you readers--manage to take care of yourself while caring for your kids. Did you join a gym with programs for the rest of the family? Do you put older kids in charge for a while and work out from home? Walk around town with a double, triple, or quadruple stroller? Involve the whole family on bikes, trikes, scooters and whatnot? Get up early in the morning or exercise late at night? Or have you just decided that exercise will have to wait until your kids are bigger? Weigh in!

--Meagan also blogs at Equilibrium

Back to School - For Real This Time!

Back-to-school is probably one of my favorite times of year. Granted, it's also one of the most expensive times (have you ever noticed how, about the 2nd week of September, the idea of that one extra little 89 cent school supply purchase makes you completely lose your crackers??), but it's a time of year that I always look forward to with anticipation.

One of the many things that I love about living in the Twin Cities is the pronounced change of seasons. While I hate to say goodbye to summer each year, when fall comes I'm more than ready. The crisper air, the change in wardrobe (I'm always, personally, grateful for more coverage. Really! Bring on those khakis and turtleneck sweaters!), the excitement of watching the kids play sports and be involved in fun new activities - it's all stuff that I love.

This year, my 14 year old will be going back to school - for real. She homeschooled for her middle school years, and is now returning to public school as a ninth grader. I've been a little melancholy about it all summer ... not unlike the summer before she started kindergarten. I've found the idea of something like that to be almost worse than the actual occurance of it. I promise you, I'll be just fine by the end of the first day of high school. The other four kids will still be home, and I am up in my eyeballs planning schedules, selling old books and buying new ones, and wondering how. on. earth. we're going to make it all work.

I'm finding these weeks before school starts to be the most challenging. The high school sports here start in the middle of August, as do the fall park and rec sports (I have one kid involved in each). Let me tell you, I thought that I was doing well setting my alarm at 5:30 a.m., in preparation for the upcoming school year. HA! Having the new high school swim coach schedule 6 a.m. weight training definitely fouled that one up for me. Note to Moms out there: consider investing in some attractive yet modest pajamas. It's quite possible that half of your community is going to see you in them. After school practices, instead of not-quite-morning-yet practices are one GREAT BIG reason for me to be excited for school to start here.

Oh, am I going to miss my girl, though. It's been an amazing three years having her home, and while I know that "it's time" ... it still makes my heart hurt just a little, thinking about closing the door on this season.

__________________________

Bonny is a homeschooling mom to five kids, ages 14, 12, 7, 5 and 5.

Looking for big families in the DC area, and also in Manhattan or Brooklyn....

I interrupt our regularly-scheduled back-to-school talk to bring you these two calls for parents of big families! I know two reporters who are working on stories about raising larger-than-average families. One is writing about professionals (or former professionals turned at-home parents) who have three or more young kids (pre-teen) in the DC area. Another is writing a story about families with six or more kids in Brooklyn or Manhattan. I'm hoping some of our readers either fit this description, or know somebody who does and who would be interested in talking to the reporters. If that's you, drop me a line at info@largerfamilies.com and I'll put you in touch. Thanks!

PS...I also wanted to mention that I've gotten a lot of great responses from people who are interested in blogging with us when we change platforms! Hang tight--I hope to get back with people this week.

And now...back to paper and pens and $300 "administrative" fees, oh my!

--Meagan

Back to School, Back to Insanity

Don't get me wrong, I really do appreciate the few hours during the day without the majority of my children at home when school starts. (This year I'll only have 1 at home!) But back to school also means back to the insanity of our busy lives.

Life is like a coin. There are always at least two sides. Summer is great because of the long lazy days without much to do. But then again the kids always seem to be on top of each other and running simple errands can be like launching a space shuttle. Back to school is great because the kids are with their friends again and I have a few hours to actually finish tasks with only minor interruptions. But when September starts I'm also dealing with homework and teachers and the return of schedule insanity due to sports, scouts, and after school activities.

As they say, "you can't win for losing."

Since I will only have one child at home during school hours (and she's almost 5 years old, not as demanding as an infant or toddler) I'm going to attempt to use that time to work on as many mundane but necessary household tasks as possible. That way the evening hours as we rush from homework through dinner to hockey practice (insert "soccer" or "scouts" depending on the week night) I won't be worrying about clean clothes or if the bills are paid.

We have one full week left of summer vacation. Honestly this has been one of our busiest summers ever. I've barely gotten used to the idea of not having to be home at 3:30pm for the school bus to arrive. And this school year promises to be our busiest so far. I think a little preplanning will keep it from turning into an over stressed messy disaster. I just hope 7 hours of school day is enough time...



Katie Fleck is a stay at home mom of five, Zach (10 years), Emily and Ally (8 1/2 year old identical twins), Kyle (5 1/2 years), and Kelly (4 1/2 years old). On a quest for a self cleaning house and 27 hour days, she writes at Ramblings of a SAHM

Gearing up for back-to-school...

...and some big changes at Largerfamilies.com!

First, pretty soon we'll be switching to a new platform. My vision is to re-work lf.com into something like a social networking site, where the users will be able to contribute content (tips, recipes, advice?) and add their own blogs to a blogroll--possibly maybe even have it set up so that you could have a snippet of your blog postings in a feed reader here so that readers can use this as a portal or jumping-off point for other blogs. I'm starting to work on it now, so give me about six months and it should be good to go :)

On that note, we are going to be looking for a few more bloggers! So if you're interested, please drop me a line at info at largerfamilies.com. Tell me a little about yourself, and link to your blog. Again, be patient--it may take me a few days to get back with you, but I'll do my best!

Third, if you have any great ideas for features you'd love to see here at lf.com, let me know! I know there are a few great large-family sites out there already that offer message board communities and articles, and I don't want to try to re-invent the wheel. I'm more picturing this as a larger-families-meets-Facebook kind of thing. With that in mind, what would make this site really cool and useful and fun?

Now, on to the back-to-school part of my post. Last year we talked a lot about what the fall meant for our kids--but what does it mean to you? Do you look at the fall as an opportunity to get more organized, or kick back into high gear with homemaking and cooking after a lazy summer of hanging at the beach? If your kids go to school, maybe you take the opportunity to get some serious, uninterrupted work done, or dive into a stack of books you've neglected for the last three months. As you can see, my approach to autumn is to jump headfirst into some big, ambitious projects, like redesigning websites using software I can barely figure out. Largerfamilies.com readers and bloggers: what does the approaching fall mean for you?

--Meagan also blogs at Equilibrium

Competitive Birthing?!?!

Cross-posted and modified from my blog...

Another story about competitive mothering, only now, with a twist! This NPR story indicates that four is, in fact, the new two, in large part because women are becoming "competitive birthers", gestating and delivering as many children as they can in order to keep up with the Joneses!

Granted, I don't live in the same communities or run in the same circles as the women featured in this article, but I can't help but wonder if this particular trend is based on fact or somebody's notion of why people are having big families. There's a big difference, to my mind, between bigger families becoming more common, or even acceptable, in certain circles, and the idea that people are actually having children as "status symbols", or "the newest fashion accessory". I guess I just give most people more credit than that. Even if they are influenced by peer pressure, this Pollyanna doesn't believe that most mothers are so shallow as to go through the exhausting process of pregnancy, birth, nursing, and raising more kids than she truly wants, just to "keep up". Could it be instead that there's a real biological urge to have kids, and that once you're in a community where having more kids is accepted, women are more likely to give in to that desire? Or that women are just plain encouraged by seeing other mothers handle larger families without losing their crackers, and think "I can do that, too"? Or maybe it's just a logical, cyclical answer to the last few decades of declining birth rates.

Personally, I care a whole lot less about the "why" people are having more kids. The numbers are as personal and as unique as the reason ANYONE has kids, of any number. I'm much more interested in the "Okay, now I've got 'em--how do I feed, clothe, shelther, teach, love, discipline, and clean up after them?" part. Which is what my book is all about.

But what do YOU think? Is there truth to the notion that people are having big families in some kind of misguided competition? Or is this idea based on speculation and hype? We want to hear your thoughts.

--Meagan is a mom of four, author, and skeptic.

A Few of My Favorite Reads

FAVORITE MAGAZINE
One of the downsides of being a writer is that I rarely read magazines for pleasure anymore. I subscribe to many magazines and flipping through these used to be one of my favorite ways to relax. Now, no matter how hard I try, I always end up analyzing the magazines the way writers are taught to and it’s hard to just enjoy them as a consumer. But…there is one magazine that arrives in my mailbox that causes me to pause and “pet” the beautiful cover. It is Wondertime magazine. It’s just one of those magazines that reminds me to enjoy the simple pleasures of parenting.

FAVORITE BLOGS
Again, there really are so many out there that I enjoy (and I find new favorites all
of the time), but if I have top pick a few here they are:

The Smart Woman’s Guide to a Simple Life-this is an informative and inspiring blog that really makes you think about the importance of living a simple(r) life (something all of us with large families can benefit from). Gretchen does a great job researching her topics and includes a thoughtful personal perspective. In keeping with the “simple” theme she only updates her blog on Mondays and you can subscribe to receive it in your inbox. It really is one of the few e-mails I look forward to reading on Monday mornings.

Don’t hate me, but I actually love to organize! When I worked in a hospital I was one of those people who instead of chatting with the rest of the nursing staff when I was caught up with my patients, I could be found organzing the supply room. Therefore I’m a big fan of organizing blogs and The Lazy Organizer and I’m an Organizing Junkie are two of my favorites. I love the before and after project pictures and their organizing product reviews.

Parentdish is one of the newsy blogs that has many new posts a day. Initially I didn’t think I’d like trying to keep up with it, but I find myself clicking on it every time I open bloglines. It’s a group blog and I don’t necessarily agree with the reporting angle of all of the bloggers, but I love reading the highlights of the latest news that may be of interest to parents. Oh, okay, and if I’m totally honest I have to admit that I do read the latest celebrity parenting gossip as well ;-)

FAVORITE BOOKS
Wanna give me a gift card I’d LOVE to spend? Forget clothes, forget shoes, you can even forget the movies. The answer is book store-all the way! I love buying books, especially nonfiction. Here are some of my latest purchases:

Saving Dinner by Leanne Ely-this book is full of menus, recipes, and shopping lists to bring your family back to the dinner table. I really like how the book is divided by seasons and offers eight weeks of menus for each. A must-have for busy families who still want to take the time to connect around the dinner table.

10-Minute Life Lessons for Kids by Jamie Miller-I’ll admit that sometimes my day gets so consumed with meeting the physical needs of four little ones that I fail to focus on my responsibility of raising good, decent human beings. This book offers 52 fun and simple games and activities to teach children important values including honesty, integrity, courage, trust, gratitutde, and cooperation. I like that at the beginning of each new game/activity it lists the specifics like group size, age, and materials needed (usually simple items around the house).


Jennifer Applin is a freelance writer, wife, and mother of four. She also blogs at Managing the MotherLoad.