Have Kids, Will Travel

6 Comments March 19, 2013 drworobec

If you have children, perhaps you can relate. If you have young children, I’m sure you can relate…

We just got back from a sun-filled, fun-filled week in Phoenix, visiting my snowbird parents. Our 8-hour delay at Chicago’s O’Hare airport aside, the trip was hassle-free; my husband and I got to relax, and my children got memory-making grandparent time. But vacationing now is much, much different than my 20-something single self remembers.

I am the person with a bored, tired baby on a delayed flight. Smile at her and be kind to me. I once was you, and one day you may be me.

I am the person who has to haul a stroller, carseats, and a diaper bag through the airport so that my children can be safe and comfortable. Hold the door for me. Let me get off the elevator. If my belongings look cumbersome and awkward to you, imagine how they feel to me.

I am the person who has an inquisitive, energetic four-year-old. Model good manners. Exercise your patience. No one wants him to stop kicking your seat more than me.

I am the person who takes more time to check-in, to get through security, and to board the plane. Realize that I am doing my best to move quickly. We all started out as children, learning the ways of the world. Help me teach them the ways.

I am the person who stops to look at the dinosaur exhibit, the neon lights on the ceiling, and every water fountain in the airport. Go around me. Rush past me. But if you take the time, you may feel some of the joy that my children do in these ‘everyday’ things.

Put yourself in my shoes. Put yourself in their shoes. And enjoy it.

Basking in the Phoenix sun with Uncle Ryan and Auntie Al.

Enjoying the Phoenix sun with Uncle Ry and Auntie Al.

It’s not Babysitting, It’s Parenting

6 Comments January 29, 2013 drworobec

I believe in feminism. I believe women are strong. I believe women are independent. And I’m a hard-core women-can-do-it-too believer. We live in a wonderful time of equality and opportunity, with a notable exception surrounding child-rearing. Primary childcare still seems to be seen as a ‘woman’s domain’.

My husband and I have set up our work schedules to be 50/50 parents. I am self-employed, and am thankful for the flexibility of setting my work hours accordingly. We work opposite hours, and one of us is always able to be with our children, now 4 and almost 1. He takes the kids to extended-family-dinners on Monday nights, to skating lessons on Wednesdays, and to Costco on Thursdays. He takes them to doctor’s appointments, the library, and on neighborhood walks. He feeds them supper, gives them baths, and reads them books. However, when I am at work, his solo-parenting is still seen by some to be ‘babysitting’. I was grocery shopping with both kids in tow one recent morning, and my conversation with the cashier went something like this:

Cashier: “What lovely children you have. Are you a stay-at-home mom?”

Me: “Thanks. I work part-time. I’m home with the kids during the day, and when my husband gets home from work, I head in to work and we switch off kid-duty.”

Cashier: “Oh, that’s great. It’s nice that he can babysit.”

Me: “Drew, please stop poking your sister in the face. Pardon me?”

Here is the definition of babysit: “to take charge of a child while the parents are temporarily away.”
Here is the definition of parenting: “the rearing of children; the methods, techniques, etc., used or required in the rearing of children; the state of being a parent.”

My husband is not a babysitter, he is a father. He does not get paid $10/hour, he gets paid in children’s smooshy hugs and slobbery kisses. He does not get driven home after a night out, he gets woken up early by energetic, vibrant kids. He does not spend time with our children only on Friday nights and occasional Saturday afternoons, he spends time with our children every day. He is not doing me a favour by looking after them, he is doing himself and them a favour by being together.My husband is an exceptional father. But he’s not a babysitter.

I love this one!

I love this one too!

“I Don’t Have Time to Exercise”

8 Comments January 8, 2013 drworobec

“I don’t have time to exercise.” It’s a phrase I hear regularly, both in my professional and in my day-to-day life. I am a chiropractor in a sports injury clinic, and I advocate regular exercise to all of my patients, athletes and non-athletes alike. The benefits of exercise are many, and the drawbacks are non-existent as far as I can tell. The opposite can be said for lack of exercise: no benefits and lots of drawbacks.

The number one reason that people tell me they don’t exercise is that they don’t have time. But the thing is, they have the same 24 hours every day that the rest of us have. They just prioritize it differently.

Let me be clear: if you choose not to exercise, and you’re fine with that, then who am I to judge? (Although, admittedly, I will still try to sway you over to my side…) But if you would like to exercise regularly, yet claim you don’t have the time, then this post is directed at you. It seems appropriate to talk about this, as the New Year begins, and exercise resolutions are flowing.

We are all busy. We all live in a busy culture and live busy lives with busy jobs, busy kids, and busy to-do lists. And therein lies the opportunity to prioritize. My husband and I are a both-parents-working-with-two-small-children family, and here’s how we fit it in:

We alternate 6am classes at Crossfit on weekdays. On my days, this means I can be back home by 7:15am, just as my kids are waking up and my husband is heading to work. On his days, he showers at the gym and goes straight to work.
I don’t work on Tuesdays, so I go to the gym on Tuesdays at 5pm, once my husband finishes work and takes over kid-duty.
I run with my neighbor at 8pm on Monday nights, after the kids are tucked into bed. Sometimes I get to a yoga class on Thursday nights at 8:30pm.
On the weekends, one of us often does a workout during the kid’s afternoon naptime. Or I bring my son with me to the gym in the morning- he plays while I do my workout, and then I do the kid-switch with my husband so he gets gym-time too.

With this juggling, we each manage to exercise 4-6 times per week. Things do come up from time to time that derail this schedule- sick children, traffic, late meetings- but that tends to be the exception rather than the rule. And while I don’t enjoy crawling out of my warm bed at 5:25am on dark mornings, I do enjoy the post-workout adrenaline rush. While I don’t enjoy leaving the comfort of my couch on cold evenings, I do enjoy the runner’s high. And while I don’t enjoy missing out on weekend naps, I do enjoy feeling healthy and fit and strong.

To say that you don’t have time to exercise assumes that the rest of us do. When in reality, we simply make the time. We sacrifice sleep, or TV, or laundry, or Facebook. We prioritize exercise. We prioritize fitness. And if this post sounds preachy, well good, because that was my intent. This is a topic I’m passionate about. And preachy about.

So go run with your kids in a jogging stroller. Go for a swim on your lunch break. Go do Pilates in your basement. Go to the gym in the wee hours of the morning or the late hours of the night. Because exercise equals movement, and movement equals health. Get moving. Get healthy.