Y: Yoga Youngsters

One of my 2013 New Year’s resolutions was to get more fit and healthy. I’m not having the best of luck though. With an overloaded schedule and a chronic illness that involves fatigue and pain, I have found it difficult to find the time, energy, and motivation for exercise. But with summer fast approaching, I plan to utilize my kids’ summer vacation to the max.

I have noticed that I am much better at sticking with and pushing through exercise that involves my kids. My son and daughter sometimes do yoga with me, and they absolutely love our walks and playtimes outside. When I exercise with them I am too busy laughing and having a good time to focus on how much it tires me or how long it is taking. In fact, sometimes I am amazed at how much time seems to fly when I am exercising with them.

As a result, I plan on building some healthy habits with my children this summer—healthy habits that I hope will continue even after summer is long over. First and foremost, I want to reclaim my body and be as fit as possible. I want to live a long and healthy life for myself and my family. Secondly, I want to give my kids a good example to follow, so they can grow up to be healthy and happy adults, too. And lastly, exercising together is a wonderful family activity. It will help to keep us connected and hopefully will help create a bond between us that will last a lifetime.

Do you exercise as a family? If so, what are your favorite activities? And how often do you get to exercise together?

X: X's and O's

I remember when I first learned what X’s and O’s stood for as a little girl. I would cover the cards and drawings that I made for people with a thousand abbreviated hugs and kisses. I wanted my friends and family to know that I loved them so very much, and in my little mind, a paper full of X’s and O’s was the perfect way to prove my love.

As I grew older, my obsession with writing a zillion X’s and O’s started to fade. Soon, I found myself writing them only on rare occasions. My mom, however, still is a big X’s-and-O’s fan. She signs all her cards to my son and daughter with a huge string of them. For the longest time, my children didn’t pay these letters any mind. However, since they are now reading, they finally asked me what this strange ‘word’ means.

I explained to them that X’s and O’s in cards and letters stands for hugs and kisses. I told them that it is an easy and quick way to show someone that you are sending them your love. Now my house has turned into a giant Valentine’s Day mailbox. It is filled with countless papers covered with X’s, O’s, and carefully drawn hearts. As my kids love to say, every day is Valentine’s Day here. It’s important to tell everyone that we love them, and we aren’t afraid to show it!

In a way, I am overjoyed to see my kids express their love for others so openly and freely. I remember that my family was much more closed when I was growing up and it sometimes left me wondering if everyone truly loved me. But my kids will never have that problem. They are my little cupids, spreading love, hugs, and kisses wherever they go—all year round. And my family no longer hesitates to return some of that affection.

Do you ever wonder how much more beautiful this world would be, if only we would be more open about loving others? Just seeing how much my children’s love has opened my own heart over the years has convinced me that love is a powerful thing. With love, anything is possible and the possibilities are truly endless.

W: Who? What? When? Where? How?

What seems like a lifetime ago, my kids went through the why stage. They drove me a little batty with their never-ending whys. Nothing ever seemed to satisfy their curiosity, no matter how long I took to try to explain why. I am not ashamed to admit that I was extremely relieved when they outgrew this difficult stage.

Recently, though, I have come to realize that those were simpler times. The infamous whys have reemerged and brought with them their many exasperating relatives: who, what, when, where, and how! I am happy to see my kids so eager to learn, but my world gets pretty crowded with all these questions floating about 24/7!

There are moments when I swear I’ve become a professor and an encyclopedia. My days are crammed with little mini lectures and demonstrations. And my kids eat them up. The more I talk, the more they ask…and in turn, the more I talk. If I am not careful, we won’t get anything else done because I love to lecture a little bit too much and I am perfectly content talking the entire day away.

My grandmother teases me that I have missed my true calling. She insists that with my love of rambling lectures, I was born to be a college professor. Who knows? Perhaps she is on to something, but I have to learn to restrain myself from getting too far away from my obligations and my kids’ actual schoolwork. It is a fun diversion for me and my children now and then, but I have to resist going off on every wild tangent each time another question surfaces. Or I risk lecturing my life away, and there are so many other amazing things I want to accomplish in this life.

V: Vacuum Cleaner Connoisseur

Since my son was two years old, he has been obsessed with vacuum cleaners. As a toddler, he wanted to start using my vacuum cleaner. As a compromise, I bought him a toy vacuum cleaner that made noises and came with a cleaning cart. It wasn’t long, though, before he wore it down and was pointing out it wasn’t really a vacuum cleaner since it didn’t suck anything up. When he was three I bought him a sweeper broom and adjusted the handle to fit his height. Within a year, the bristles on it were so bent that it no longer would roll.

When he was four I bought him another sweeper broom. This time it was a heavy duty model. The sweeper broom still works, but by the time my son turned five, he longed for something more. I found a Swivel Sweeper on sale and thought it would be the best of both worlds. It would give my son true suction power under my supervision, without me worrying about the dangers of power cords. Within three months, he had that Swivel Sweeper so worn out it wouldn’t even charge.

When my fiancé and I were out Christmas shopping this past winter we found Dust Busters on sale. They were an incredible bargain and we knew immediately that my son would adore such a gift. On Christmas morning, once my little buddy unwrapped his Dust Buster, he didn’t want to open any more presents. He was one very happy little boy.

Now that it is April, though, he is already planning what he’s going to ask Santa Claus for this coming Christmas. Although he loves his Dust Buster, he still wants to add to his vacuum cleaner fleet. He has been eyeing up stick vacuum cleaners and all the fancy vacuums that Dyson sells. I fondly call my son a vacuum cleaner connoisseur. He enjoys telling me what he loves and dislikes about different models every time he sees a commercial, leafs through a catalog, or takes a trip down the vacuum cleaner aisle at the store. He has even told me that he plans on designing an even better vacuum cleaner when he grows up. With how much he already knows about vacuums and how passionate he feels about them, I won’t be surprised if he follows through on this dream someday.