Strong Like Mom

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When I decided I was ready to have kids, I thought I knew all that I was in for. Nights with little sleep, shirts covered in baby puke, rushed dinners, and a constant mess of toys in the living room. Now that I’m a mom of a baby and a toddler, those predictions became my reality. But you know what I wasn’t prepared for? That I’d be doing freakin’ “Mom Crossfit” every day of my life.

I’ve never been very strong. I can maybe do fifteen push-ups at a time. I’ve never done a pull-up in my life. Actual CrossFit? I think I’d pass out during the warm up. But now that I’m a mom, I am suddenly expected to lift my twenty and thirty pound kids all.day.long! Sometimes at the same time! I seriously did not know how physically strong I would have to be to be a mom!

For example: those car seats that we lug around everywhere to avoid waking up a sleeping baby. The car seat I registered for touts itself as “lightweight and ergonomic”. Ha! When I’m using all of my muscles to carry my baby down the long hall to pick up his brother at school, I’m sure it looks anything but ergonomic. Lifting the car seat with my eighteen pound chunk back into the SUV? That is hard!

One time during school pick up, my toddler proceeded to have a total meltdown. The kind where his body goes limp and he refuses to move. Of course, my baby was in that car seat so I had no other choice but to one-arm that car seat and throw my fit-throwing toddler on my other hip. Somehow I made it down that long hallway and out to the car. I’ve never felt so strong in my entire life! What’s that saying? Something like, “Sometimes we have no idea how strong we are until we have no other choice.” Moms just get stuff done, even when you aren’t sure you’re physically capable.

Times I’ve been surprised at my new found Mom Strength

  • Strong like momLifting a toddler out of his third row car seat from the back of the SUV. Bonus strength points if he is sleeping.
  • Hiking six miles with a sixteen pound baby strapped to my chest for funsies.
  • Carrying a sleeping toddler full of thirty pounds of dead weight.
  • Attending Story Time at the library where every sing-along-song requires you to lift your baby in the air!
  • The time I went to Mommy and Me Yoga and we did traveling squats around the room while holding our babies. My baby was definitely the biggest one there. Weren’t we just supposed to Savasana next to each other on the mat the whole time??
  • Hauling all of the kid gear from the car to the beach through the sand – while holding a baby.
  • Lifting kids into the cart at the grocery store. Since I’m only five feet tall, this is no easy task.
  • Pulling fifty pounds of kid around the neighborhood in their wagon.

Can anyone else relate to these or am I just especially weak? After a full day of parenting, I usually look like a sweaty mess. I never believed other moms who said that instead of working out, they just chase a toddler around all day. Now that that’s what I do all day, I totally believe them. Being a mom is physically exhausting! But despite putting my body through two pregnancies, I actually feel like I’m in the best shape I’ve ever been. Sure, I’ve got some loose skin and some weight to lose, but my body is STRONG. One day I’m sure I’ll miss the days when I had a baby in each arm. For now, thanks kids for forcing me to build up some muscle mass!

Strong like mom

When has being a mom made you feel strong?

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