What Really Happened

All the stay-at-home moms out there were probably laughing at my naivety when I posted this gem yesterday:

I am enjoying being off at 3 on Tuesdays because it means we can, for instance, visit the library midweek. Since I'm not working tonight, it also means I can run (guilt-free) once Dean gets home from work since the girls will have had me all afternoon. This could be a nice benefit when it's time to start marathon training again.

When will I learn? What actually happened is that I squeezed in a subpar run while the girls were at dance, then thought (again with the naivety) that I would be entitled to take a leisurely bath once I had fed everyone a gourmet dinner (trader joes chicken nuggets and french fries--top that!). What actually happened is that I helped Ella with her homework, then played Polly Pocket/Barbie with Sadie. Because the homework had to get done, and Sadie asked me if I would play with her, and what was I supposed to say? That I'd rather take a bath? The upshot is that by the time these guys are in bed at night, I'm out patience for the 52 times our presence is requested upstairs. I've also realized what a lot of you SAHM out there could have told me, which is that it doesn't matter if my kids see me for five minutes a day or 13 hours a day, it is NEVER EVER enough mommy time. Or maybe it's not like that for everyone and I am just that awesome?

I guess, probably, as a mother it is unreasonable of me to expect to have any "me" time. Maybe I am supposed to devote my every waking moment to the children? Probably. But believe me, we are all happier when I can carve out a few minutes here and there for myself.

My new schedule has totally thrown off any attempts to run. Or maybe it is the cold/dark. Or maybe it is that after running that 15K that I never blogged about two weeks ago, I have just completely shut down. Suddenly, I feel injured everywhere. I made it through four months of marathon training with few complaints, and now I've got a sore Achilles tendon (I think), runner's knee, and my hip feels bruised. It's worth noting this is all on the left side, which basically screams of alignment issues, strength issues, or some combination of the two. I ran twice last week. I've worked out twice this week (run yesterday, swim today) but both have been subpar (read under 30 minutes).

Today's swim left me with two questions: What the hell happened to my left shoulder (I can barely swim the crawl all the sudden)? And why (WHY?) would a mom let her two little kids swim in lap lanes that are obviously being used by people swimming, well, laps?? There is a designated shallow area for kids, and while I get that kids would maybe prefer to be in deeper water, if I were the parent, I would say, "Those lanes are just for adults." Believe me, I just did that with Sadie recently. Swimming at the Y is bad enough what with all the seniors who sort of wander around in the lap lanes socializing, but it's really hard to dodge little kids when you are swimming with any sort of purpose.

First swim in probably four months, and boy could I feel it!