make a move mummy

I have my second half marathon race this week. I asked Jeremy to write a little bit about what they get up to when I head out for my training runs. So I will hand over to him...

Ruth heads off running early most saturday morning's for her run camp so she is out of the house before the kids are even stirring. I'm very proud of her for getting up so early to run....and even more so of the impact she is having on Charlotte and Toby.

The kids will run into our room on Saturday morning and get into our bed - quickly realising that mummy is not there. "Mummy go running" Toby will proudly exclaim at the top of his voice.

Its my morning to "lie in" so I am always trying to think of things that will keep the kids in bed longer - so I can press snooze on my virtual alarm clock for a few precious minutes more. It never works!

One morning I decided the best strategy to keep the 3 of us in bed would be to play a game where we all had to pretend to be like each other in the morning.

So, our first move was....."Dozing Daddy" - initially my favourite move as Toby, Charlotte and I all stayed in bed and pretend to snore (or real snore :) ).

Then we did "Stay Still Sissy" reflecting that fact that when Charlotte gets in bed in the morning she just lies very still. So the 3 of us would lie perfectly still. Perfect.

Thirdly we did "Toby" whom we described as "Wriggle Bum Bum". You can imagine lots of kicking and wriggling - but at least all in the comfort of our warm bed.

Finally we did "Mummy". We talked about what would sum mummy up in the morning; Charlotte and Toby were sure there was only one thing - running! So we agreed it should be "Make a move mummy". What was so amazing was that when I called out "make a move mummy" they both got out of bed, ran round the room and got back in the bed again!

We do the whole routine, over and over, most saturday mornings. And there is no doubt, that even though it involves getting out of bed, our favourite move is "make a move mummy".

Ruth has been a real inspiration to the kids. From the morning antics to putting on their "running shoes" and pretending to be mummy running round the house. Keeping fit is so critical for this generation of kids I'm so pleased that exercise is becoming such a part of family life. Ruth has also inspired me to take up a regular yoga class too.

So to celebrate Ruth's inspiration to the rest of us we had a running shirt made emblazened with the words "MAKE A MOVE MUMMY" front and back. What a brilliant association for the kids to have with their mummy.