Decisions

Yesterday I was faced with an odd dilemma.

It was a beautiful day, the first non-rainy day we've had since we got back home on Monday. Because it was a nice opportunity to get out and enjoy the sunshine, I wanted to take advantage of it with the children. But I also wanted to exercise.

Aside: I realize that my main form of exercise is walking, which can almost anyone can do. However, I have a really hard time exercise-walking with my children. They are easily distracted ("Oooh, Mom! Look at this!"), and truly, sometimes they simply have a hard time keeping up. As a result, I don't exercise WITH them. Sometimes they are in the same room, doing their own thing, but it isn't something we do together.

And then, in the midst of my internal deliberations, I came to a realization: The exercise is a means to an end. Exercising and losing the weight is so that I can spend more quality time with my family.

So we went to an apple orchard, and it was wonderful. Was it exercise? No. Definitely not. But it was ACTIVE. We had a fantastic time wandering the orchard, finding and comparing the different varieties of apples. All total, we walked two miles or more since we didn't ride the tractor to get to the picking area.

If I have a choice between doing something with them -- especially something active -- and doing something on my own, the best choice (for ME) is to do something with them. WITH them, not near them.