Be A Better Musician Mom

El is definitely musical. It's early with J, but he does like when I sing to him.

What I should do to encourage musicality is sing, clap rhythms, play with instruments, sit down at the piano with them, dance, listen to many kinds of music, practice my own instruments. And I should do them often.

Well, we sing daily and listen to music during playtime. Those other things happen, just not every day.

I don't expect my kids to be Mozart or Josh Groban. I do hope they will love and appreciate music.

How do I make sure they love it? By showing that I love music and making it fun.

We sing songs, and El fills in the blanks when I pause.

We sing LDS primary songs before bed.

We listen to classical music during playtime and work time.

They see me playing the organ and get to "help" after church if they were good.

We have impromptu "ballets" that are mostly running in circles and giggling.

We clap our hands.

We pound on the piano. And we cuddle while we do it!

Not each thing each day. But a bit every day. That makes music part of your daily life. It becomes the norm. And everyone is lifted and drawn closer by music together.

Swim the mile: check check

Yesterday, I wrote about my awesome 2-mile run. It was a good week for me. On Thursday, I got in a great swim.

I got a kickboard and pull buoy for Christmas and had yet to use them. After I got the kids to bed, I headed to the pool.

Here's my workout:
Warmup 100 yards
Ladder--- 100, 200, 300, 400 free
100 each kick, pull, swim free
100 each kick, pull, swim back
Cool down 100

Pretty simple, ending at 36 laps.

I was pumped. I worked hard and killed my goal (1 hour, I swam it in 50 minutes). I haven't swam a mile in a long time, and doing it in 50 minutes was awesome because I wasn't pushing my speed. I know I'll get faster, and it's a great place to start.

Now to get a regular swim schedule in place.

5 months postpartum

It seems like all the mommy running bloggers get up 6 weeks postpartum and run and dive right in. Good for them.

But let me just say

Running is hard after having a baby.

It's hard to find time, it's hard to get people out the door to the gym or the trail,  it's hard to push that stroller. It's impossible to go early after a rough night or a good night but you're too full of milk. It's hard to build your mileage up, it's hard to not compare, and it is hard on your lady parts and core.

I'm pleased to say that on Saturday, I ran two miles continuously. No stopping to walk. No stopping at all. It was hard. I was ready to stop at the end. Later on, my core was sore.

But i felt amazing. I did it. It was the first time in 5 months that I felt happy while running. And that was a pretty good feeling.