Running in the Garage

Today I learned that it is possible for me to run on our treadmill (which is out in the garage) for half an hour while my children play together without killing one another! This is a first! Usually I have to stop in the middle of my workout to play the referee! Perhaps they are getting used to this, though I only do a treadmill run maybe once every week or two at the most, because I despise being a slave to a machine. Still, there are mornings when I just cannot pull myself out of bed, yet I know that I need to do some kind of exercise, and so we head to the garage after school is over. I pull the van out and park it in the driveway, and then, with the front garage door closed and the back door open so the kids can go to the backyard as well, I run while the children play on their bikes, wagons, cars, whatever.

Arden loves riding what we call the Flintstone car--you know, where the kid gets in, pulls the door shut, and shuffles around like the Flintstones. However, he has absolutely NO sense of control and just loves to make noises and swirl around so that he actually looks like he is riding a bumper car! This is highly amusing to Arden, but not so cute to Charis and Tobin, who feel the impact of Arden's recklessness every so often. Today I prepped them for this, reminding them that he is still learning how to control his vehicle (I will NOT be the one to teach this person to drive a real car!) and doesn't realize that he needs to check his rearview mirror before backing up. :-) Though we had a few moments when I thought I might have to ditch my workout, Charis and Tobin did a great job of patiently working around their psycho-driver brother!

And I? Well, not to brag or anything (ha!), but I managed to run 3 miles in 30 minutes and burned 415 calories! Woohoo! (Sarah, that takes care of those chocolate-frosted graham crackers from yesterday!!)