30 Day Shred - Day 8

Done!

Can't believe I'm 2 workouts away from Level 2. Did all men's pressups today, although I felt like giving up. There is improvement already! Yay!

Think my arms have been aching since yesterday cos I've been pushing myself on the pressups. But good progress! Now that I've done all men's pressups today, I don't think I can cut myself any more slack ...

Surprisingly, I do feel myself getting progressively stronger by the day. My clothes fit better too, although I still have a jiggly pooch and flabby thighs to continue working off. But I think they will probably take maybe 4 to 6 months of regular exercise to work off, or maybe I'll need to put up with them permanently... Haha whatever will be will be.

30 Day Shred - Day 7

Done, but tough today. I was sleepy and half wanted to leave it to tonight but went ahead anyway. Wanted to just stop and lie down midway but pushed through. Glad I did. Tonight, I'm not waking up for anything apart from sleep nursing Chris.

Yeah!!

So proud of chew!!!

My helper surprised me today. We went to check out a playschool for Chris and baby elephant.

For a start, I'm not really bothered at the moment if the school actually teaches my kids any of the nursery/kindergarten/ primary school type curriculum. I zoomed in on the faces of the children.... None of them struck me as particularly cheerful. No idea why... So I'm still undecided.

My helper is surprisingly more kiasu than I am. She didn't say anything negative about the school, but she made two comments that amused me. First, on our way home, she said 'mam, baby elephant know all this already. Even Chris know Peekaboo'. She was commenting on the class we watched that was meant for baby elephant's age.

Then at home, baby elephant was running around and talking to himself, making up stories. He is quite entertaining, at least to me. My helper then smiled and commented, 'mam, you see the children just now, not like this, not so many words'. I just laughed with her.

I have no frame of reference, except my own children. I'm too lazy to constantly track their pace of development against Baby Centre. I don't want to be anxious about their development and put undue pressure on them. But also because of this, I hope I'm not doing my kids a disservice.

I'm just happy if the kids are happy and curious and yes, even a little cheeky. I tell them about things around us and about things in our life. I don't think they always understand, but I love the sound of my voice, so heck, I just tell them anyway.

So when even my helper shows such pride in baby elephant's and chris's supposed intelligence, I'm highly amused:) not because I'm not proud of them. Just that I'm proud of them because they are who they are and not because they measure a little higher when compared to other kids. I think they have some gifts that other kids might not have, but there are some areas they might be weaker in when compared. I think it somehow all balances out. So just let them be la!

Haha! Baby elephant and Chris, Aunty A so proud of chew!!!

30 Day Shred - Day 6

1/5 of the 30 DS completed!

Yeah!!! Good day today! Night work out started at 9.40pm with zero interruptions. Guess I'm ok if there are. I'll just continue when Chris goes back to sleep.

Still cannot push through with all men's pressups. Damn! Well I figure, since the women's version is still somewhat challenging to me, I'll give myself more time to convert all of them to men's. Slowly but surely!

Sweet! One more day to the weekend. Lights out, folks!

Apology

What's in an apology? Those two little words said in earnest, the offender looking the offended in the eye and admitting he/she was wrong and should not have committed whatever the bad deed was.

The offender: me.

Victim: baby elephant (again!)

I lost my cool at baby elephant today. I've reminded him sternly one too many times not to hurt Chris but the message wasn't getting through to him. On top of that, he misplaced his Froggy, which he sleeps with every night and holds while drinking milk. So I tear into him and tell him I'm fed up with his tugging at his brother and tell him to find his Froggy. He climbs onto his bed and finds Froggy missing and cries, while I'm still shouting at him.

At this point, I feel like s*** because I can't protect my younger child and I add more grief to my older one by throwing a tantrum, an adult sized one!

So Vader comes home shortly after this and tells baby elephant that no one's helping him look for Froggy. I start panicking and look frantically for it, not because I choose not to listen to Vader, but because I realized no one else in the house was looking for it and he couldn't remember where he had brought Froggy.

I sat baby elephant down and told him he had to try to remember. I then told him I was sorry for shouting at him and that I shouldn't have done it. His reply? "I'm sorry, mommy." I'm pretty sure he doesn't know what he's apologizing about and maybe even how an apology works, but I melted into a puddle internally.

We make him apologize to Chris when he hurts him, but I'm not sure he understands the concept, apart from the phrase itself...

It's tough, but I do hope my children learn and embrace both the act of the apology as well as the change that needs to come with it. I'm still learning as well, but I do know that having to apologize to your child is heart breaking. Not so much because I have to let go of my pride, but because there is added pressure never to repeat the deed again... I don't want to disappoint my kids.

Interestingly, I doubt I've ever heard Vader apologize for anything before..... Grrrrrr!

Anyway, I found Froggy in the washing machine. Baby elephant left him there when he was pulling the unwashed laundry out. Sigh!

30 Day Shred - Day 5

Done!

First ever uninterrupted middle of the night workout :) and yes, I do feel somewhat stronger. I think I should push harder in the pressups. Have been doing half men's and then half women's pressups (knees on floor). Should go men's all the way. I shudder thinking about this for tomorrow's session.

I do get more tired the following day after a middle of the night workout, that's why I've been a little frustrated that my days have been so filled I can't even squeeze out thirty minutes of me time. I'm hoping next week will be a better week.

30 Day Shred - Day 4

Done!

Feels awesome! Except that it could have been a tad easier today because i had to stop to nurse Chris. Completed it nonetheless.

Today's workout was a middle of the night one as we were at my mom's today. I might consider bringing my DVD player n weights n yoga mat over on tuesdays.... It's the only way I know I'll have an uninterrupted workout. However, I do love how relaxed I am after working out at night. After my shower, I am free to rest or sleep. In the afternoons, after my shower, one of the boys might be clambering for attention and I barely get to catch my breath.

Day 5 next! Jillian does mention that you start to feel stronger from day 5 or 6 onwards. I don't know... I'm still having to push through all the exercises, especially the lunges...they're killing me. With my luck, I'll probably begin to get used to them on day 9 or 10, then I'll start on level 2 and start aching all over again. Haha! I'm progressing though, and I'm happy:)