exercise and kids

I'm a single mom and I work full time, with a 3 y.o. at home.

However, I'm fortunate enough to live in an urban area, so I can bike to/from work. 10.5 miles each way, 21 round trip... approx 100 minutes on the bike daily. I haul the kiddo to daycare in a trailer and leave the trailer in their stroller room for the day.

I've also had a modicum of success with pushing him in the jogger. The bonus is that he gets to grow up thinking exercise is a part of daily life. It's just something you DO.

That's what I was going to say. Uphill stroller jogging is an AWESOME workout.

I go to the gym during my lunch hour during the week (30 min cardio 25 weights). After work and on weekends...I play in the yard with my daughter and our dogs...soccer, t-ball, tag...ect. We also do some workout videos together (yoga and belly dance mainly). My daughter is 6 but this should work well with your 3 year old.

I do it after my 3y/o is in bed. Exercise has become my "me" time.

It's very hard....I'm a single mom of 3. Once I get home from work, feed kids, gives baths, clean house, and do laundry.....I'm exhausted and it's time for bed. I hardly get time to workout alone. When the weather is nice I do take the kids for a walk or what have you.

I have a four year old who loves taking part with mommy in her activities and helping her eat healthier. I think if I was doing this all on my own and leaving my little guy behind, I'd be feeling pretty guily too, but this just gives us one more thing to do together, plus it's showing him great habits to build for the future. We work out with the wii and he pushes me with "great job, mommy!" and "you did it!". And he really enjoys spinning the salad for me, as well as testing vegetables for me to make sure they taste "extra good". My little guy pushes me to excel.

I am a SAHM with a 3yr. old and an 8mo. old, so i don't have the issue with working but i get up and do 30min. before they wake up on my stationary bike (i can't do it when the baby is up she tries to grab my feet and if i put her in her jumper she screams at me because she likes to be on the floor) and i also try to do 30. min after they go to sleep, but i also like to take them for walks most days and another good one is i turn on the radio with some of our favorite songs and we dance around the living room, they laugh and dance( i hold the baby and dance) they both love it.

I am a mom of 3: 6 yrs, 2 1/2 yrs, and 15 months--and my middle child is disabled. I work full time, and my husband travels for a week and a half at a time, and sometimes isn't home for more than a few days at a time so a lot of the time I am a single mom. I have the same dilemma. I AM NOT a morning person, and I already have to get up at 5:30 to make it to work on time. I've tried and tried to get up and do a workout video in the mornings and it's just NOT happening. And by the time we've been to baseball practice, fixed dinner, had baths, and fought with the two younger kids to get in the bed, I am exhausted most of the time. When my youngest was getting to bed early, I could work out in the evenings because my 6 yr old does his own thing (or exercises with me) and my 2 1/2 yr old just sits and watches me and laughs (is that a sign?? ). But about a month ago, my youngest decided she was going to change her schedule without asking me, and I can't get her in bed early anymore. Okay, now that I've rambled about my kid situation, here is my solution...I work at a hospital with a skywalk between the hospital and doctor's building. I walk on my break in the afternoon (I try to do it every day, but sometimes I miss a day here and there). I usually do 2 miles in 25 minutes. Then, if I'm able to pop in a video in the evenings (if my children cooperate), that's great, but I try not to feel super guilty if that doesn't work out. And now that the weather is getting to be nice, I hope to drag out my double stroller and my son's bike and walk at home in the afternoons (between ball practice and ball games and church and, well you get the picture...). Hope that helps. By the responses already on here, just know that you're not alone in your quest to find time to work out between work and taking care of kids. Best of luck!!!! :happy:

This may sound unreasonable, but I can remember when I had little kids (and I do it now with my grand babies!) I would take the kids to the park and play with them.
You'd be surprised how many calories you can burn playing with little kids!

I can remember this experiment was done with a very strong football player and his toddler. He was to follow his toddler around ALL day to see if he could do it. I don't remember if he did it or not, all I remember is him saying how TIRED he got by following and doing everything his little kid did just for a few minutes!

So try taking the kids to the park every day when it's nice, after work. I know, bla. Probably feel like laying on the couch after work, but hey, the fresh air will pep you up. And all that running around with the kids will burn a ton of calories!

Good luck to you.

I am a mom of a 3 yo and a 6 mo. old and I work full time and I have the same dilema of wanting to spend as much time with my kids as I can. I switched my schedule at work to an earlier schedule (7-3:30). I walk/jog during my 30 minute lunch break and eat lunch at my desk. Thankfully I work in an enviornment that doesn't mind that I'm a little sweaty in the afternoons!

I am also fortunate that the daycare where my kids are has an awesome workout facility. So I go work out for 30 minutes at the daycare before picking up the kids and I'm still able to get the kids by 4:30-5pm and feel like I can get good quality time with them before they go to sleep.

Im Lucky My 4 year old has to be at school at 7:30am and I dont have to be at work till 9:30 so I take her to school and go to the gym at work workout for about an hour then use the gym locker room to get ready and walk to my desk at work. on days that I dont go I use the Biggest Loser Last chance workout dvd and it KICKS MY BUTT!

I'm also really fortunate to work in a very progressive environment (non-profit) where we have yoga classes offered onsite once or twice a week and cycling for transportation is HIGHLY encouraged.

But someone (actually a few ppl) have commented about taking the kids to the park. Remember, that ANYTHING can be made into a gym. You can do plyometric jumps on park benches. You can do partial-weight push ups (i.e. wall push ups), dips, pull ups, etc on playground equipment. And, of course, you can run. You could, theoretically, make a circuit course of the playlot and make it a game with the (toddler+ aged) kids, even!

Bonus: a tired toddler/preschooler will nap HARD and sleep well at night!

I thought of this post and the playground references today at the park. I put my daughter on the teeter totter, and I used my arms to push down on the other side to lift her up. (I pushed from my waist level down and would catch the teeter totter as my end came back up.) I can already feel it in my triceps!! I'm thinking this workout is going to replace my dumbell rows....!!