My Own Personal Trainers

A tired and cranky Nathaniel hitting the ground for a good old-fashioned pout on Thanksgiving.

I am supposed to exercise regularly. My diet should consist of green vegetables and brightly-colored vitamin-rich food.

My resolve was working just fine until everyone moved back in. Suddenly, there were cookies, pastas and junk food in my pantry! All of my efforts were additionally hampered by a particularly stubborn sinus infection.

Those are my excuses and I am sticking with them.

The weather in Missouri has been wonderfully warm and almost spring-like. So, on the 30th, I decided it was time to start the exercising again. We have a wonderful park close-by with every kind of walking experience that you would want for a work-out.

On Monday night, two of my grandchildren went with me. They didn't want to walk those boring sidewalks. They had spotted the kid's playground and weren't too willing to stray too far past it.

But walk we did. I didn't get the brisk pace that the experts recommend. Instead, the three of us made one complete circuit before coming back to the playground.

But wait! If a person can follow two children through the maze of playground equipment without feeling silly; the real exercise begins. We climbed up the ladders and slid down the slides. I didn't feel the burn like Jane Fonda, but I certainly used some muscles that did their own complaining later on in the evening.

On Tuesday, only Nathaniel came with me. He has great stamina but his short little legs can only go so far. However, he is a cheerful conversationalist with a good sense of humor.

"Run Grandma Run!". So we jogged a little ways. "Let's walk down to those Stop Signs, I suggested". "Those are two octagons Grandma," he replies. And then we get back to the playground equipment. He climbs up the ladders about 8 times with me following after him. Down the slides we go. He proudly informs another toddler that his grandma was going to climb on the bus and slide too.

It was hard to convince him that we needed to go home. It was getting dark and the bigger kids were coming out to play.

On Wednesday night; I walked alone. I didn't go to the playground at all, but completed the walking circuit two times.

Tonight, Nathaniel and I went back to the park. I let him choose our walking routine. So, we crossed the bridge to the water park. Up and down the sidewalks we went. When I walked backwards, so did he. The grand finale was making it back to the playground again.

We probably would have stayed longer, but the call of nature hit Nathaniel. He isn't a country boy and refuses to pee behind a tree. No, we had to go home to the safety of our own bathroom.

Next week, might be a completely different scenario for exercise. But I did learn one thing; children make exercise fun. They love the outdoors. I was blessed with endless opportunities to teach them about their surroundings this past week.

Those are the Precious Moments that keep me going. I am hopeful the the 4 pounds that came back like a thief in the night will be gone again by my next doctor visit. I feel so much better when I eat good healthy food.

But most of all, I enjoy my personal trainers. They are just young enough not to be embarrassed by their middle-aged grandma climbing up and down on the equipment.

And for that I am grateful. It will be a sad day when they are too big for my lap and too busy for my company.