As some point during the 4 years we worked together, one of my graduate school mentors, a woman similar to me in voluptuous shape, suddenly began to play adult indoor soccer with gusto. Why? Because of the shock of her 6-year old son declaring that she wasn’t cool because \u00e2\u20ac\u0153she didn’t have a sport.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Now that Will is 5, I am up late some nights wondering, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153will my son suddenly find me uncool because I don’t have a sport?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
I’ve made extra effort to teach him how to swim in the ocean and snorkel in the surf. I’ve gone outside to throw a ball with him. I’ve danced and done yoga. But do these count as having a sport? Am I close to losing Cool Mommy points for something that doesn’t involve forcing him to eat lima beans or wiping? Because that would be terrible.<\/p>\n
Paul and I have had many discussions about wanting to do more exercise as a family, but things (aka: the fact that we are independently renovating our 100+ year old foreclosed home for the 4th year running) tend to get in the way. In our ‘non-work’ hours, Paul works on the house and I entertain the kids. I do my best to take them to the park for exercise, but a runny nose, a need for the bathroom, my forgetting to pack snacks, or a fall over a twist tree root can bring even the best plans to a crying, whining, fussing halt. Sure, we do yoga together, more a practice in laughter than actual stretching, but we have not found our exercise-together-niche.<\/p>\n
The battle of the bulge looms greater as the pressure for a household video game player has been mounting. Will played his first video game while visiting my brother and sister-in-law last summer, which spurred my Dad to get an Xbox so that he and Will could play when we visit them.<\/p>\n
And Paul? Oh, my, poor Paul.\u00c2\u00a0 When we met, Paul was a GAME GUY.\u00c2\u00a0 He did side work as a pinball machine programmer.\u00c2\u00a0 He collected and restored classic pinball machine and video games; games that with each move, he’s had to leave more and more of behind.\u00c2\u00a0 In short, Paul is foaming at the mouth for a console, but knew I was completely against them, hating the idea of our kids sitting on a couch staring at a screen.<\/p>\n
Then I learned of the Wii and in particular, the Wii Fit.<\/p>\n
It was Melanie who turned my head.\u00c2\u00a0 Melanie made a commitment to being more fit a few years ago and has become one of my exercise heros — and she says that the Wii Fit is a great exercise tool.\u00c2\u00a0 She made me believe it would work for us, too. So I emailed her for Wii information last month and started to plot how I would manage a Wii for us for Christmas. I began to believe it was something that could put us all in better shape simply by making it easy for us to include fitness into our day as a family.<\/p>\n
Then Paul caught on. First he started on the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153we have no money for Christmas\u00e2\u20ac\u009d route, which I ignored. Then he flat out figured my plan, which I blogged about in a huff<\/a>. Finally, he sat me down to look at Quicken in detail. Yowza. We closed up our holiday wallets for the long winter.<\/p>\n But we still want a Wii, specifically because of the Wii Fit.<\/p>\n And even more than I could dream of wanting it, the other three in the household are dreaming of it.<\/p>\n Especially<\/em> Will.<\/p>\n Inspired by his recent viewing of Star Wars for the first time, Will made this video<\/a> for Magpie Musings<\/a>, who is giving away a Wii Fit this coming Monday.<\/p>\n It’s based on Leia’s plea to Obi Wan to help her fight the Empire.\u00c2\u00a0 (I’m trying to ignore the implication that I could be the Evil Empire in this scenario.)<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Help us Magpie Kenobi,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d says Will, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153you’re our only hope.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I can only add to the plea that maybe, with us playing sport and fitness games as a family, I may avoid the loss of Cool Mommy points in the future.<\/p>\n