It’s a holiday weekend! Yay! 4 beautiful days together as a family 🙂
4 days with no work, no school, no schedule -just good old fashioned family fun. Sleeping in and taking it easy. What could be better?
I can often be very much of a type A planner. I like to know what’s going to happen along with all the details of how it will unfold. Many times I have used the holidays to schedule tons of activities and play catch up on work. Not this time! I am planning to have 4 days of pure bliss.
Here are my “non plans” for this holiday weekend
2 short runs and 1 long one –Of course I LOVE spring running but I also have some new gear to test out from CTR, a local Montreal brand with great looking running gear. Check back for a full review on these items in about a week!
Encourage my children to join me in some peaceful meditation –My little 3 year old princess actually loves this and asks to do it many evenings before bed. My son is 7 and a little skeptical about the whole thing but I’m sure it will grow on him in time.
This is one of my favorites meditation pieces!
Play outside & take my kids on their first bike ride of the season –Montreal is supposed to be 12 degrees tomorrow!
Make plans to catch up with friends –Both out of town friends and local ones!
Celebrate the holidays with my family –AÂ great combination of Passover & chocolate Easter eggs
Have 4 consecutive nights of family dinner –This is super exciting because normally this only happens once a week. Our business is open 7 days/nights a week and my hubby and I often laugh about how we just pass each other on the driveway most of the time.
Read a new book –Bookstore here I come!
Plan new blog posts and spend time advancing the writing of my own book –LOVING this new found passion!
Have a movie night with the kiddies –No explanation needed! 🙂
A little spring cleaning! -Not always fun to do but so lovely once it’s completed!
Although these sound like simple things, they are the makings of MY magic moments.What are your holiday weekend plans? How do you make magic moments? Â
Wishing Everyone a very Happy Easter and Passover!
Okay parents, let’s be real. Many of us feel like we can’t take the time we need for ourselves because of our spouses, children, parents, home, work, business and 5 million other commitments. I have had this mentality my whole life but it became much more prominent once I became a mom.
I did try to make it all work but more often than not I failed. I would make a plan for my day or my week that included special scheduled “me time”. For me that meant, exercise, meditation, reading, writing and occasionally when the kids were babies…sometimes it even meant a nap (!) More often than not though, despite my good intentions I would cancel “me time” because I felt I had other bigger more pressing commitments to attend to. Then after I didn’t follow my own plans, I would berate myself and become more and more frustrated with the lack of TIME.
I always blamed TIME. There was never enough time to work out for an hour, then shower AND wash my hair! That meant at least 1.5 to 2 hrs of TIME! Read for fun? Yes this used to be one of my favorite things to do when I was younger but now? There was definitely not enough time for that unless I was on vacation maybe and even then! Now I had to get the kids ready and off to school, clean the house, do the laundry, visit extended family, put in hours and hours a week on managing our family business, prepare for and teach multiple classes a week, maintain friendships, attend school plays and shows, do homework with my oldest, play with my youngest, the list goes on. Not to mention feeling guilty about not making scrapbooks and scouring Pinterest for hours designing little mementos that will document each moment of my precious little ones lives. Hmmm…and what about spending some quality time with the husband?
Then I realized this needed to stop. One of the first times that it dawned on me that my priorities needed to change was when I realized that my day was being spent dictated to me by other people. I would make a plan for my day and it would all go to waste when I would open my email. I have multiple email accounts: the main company email, my personal business email and my personal/family email. Each one would be filled with anywhere from 10-50 emails and at least 80% were marked URGENT by the sender. Everyone wanted an answer and a solution to their questions and problems. Then there were the phone calls and voicemails…..
Needless to say I never got anything done for myself and I would always cross everything that I had planned to do off my list because of other people’s priorities. Now this doesn’t mean that I condone not maintaining or following up on your responsibilities. However I have finally after much trial and error come up with methods that works for me and hopefully can help out those of you who feel like you are also struggling to manage it all.
I did a lot of research, read a lot about self-development and drew from the teachings of people like Tony Robbins, Tim Feriss and Jim Rohn. I say I drew from their teaching because the reality is that they give lots of great advice but they are not living their daily lives as a busy working mom of young kids. So I had to adapt and try out different techniques to see what worked and what didn’t.
Here are some of the concepts that I have applied to my daily life
PERSONAL
I no longer come last. Yes I said it. I come first. That’s hard to say as a mom, I know. Reason being is that if I do not have my “me time” I am just not the best mother and wife that I can be. I must spend time outside. I must run. I must write. I must read. Notice that these are not SHOULD’S but MUST’S.
However I’ve also learned that I can’t do it all each day. So now I made a schedule and I alternate. Running & stretching one day, yoga & meditation the next. Some days I nix both and just read or write. In a perfect world I could spend the first 4 hours of my morning doing all these activities but that’s not reality. So I pick one of my MUSTS each day and do just one BUT I make sure to be deeply grateful for it.
Choose 5 minutes a day to turn off all distractions and be grateful
Find at least 30 minutes a day to do one of your MUSTS -maybe that 30 minutes is in the morning before everyone else gets up or maybe it’s late at night. Find your time, it’s there waiting for you if you look. Make YOU a priority. I guarantee no one will self-combust because of it 😉
FAMILY
I used to be distracted all the time and never really focused on being in the moment. I have learned that putting my phone on silent and focusing on finger painting with my little one, or encouraging the kids to talk about their day at the dinner table has changed everything. Sometimes putting a hold on the rushing around and letting the kids play outside just a little longer or stay up just a little later is not just okay but amazing and beautiful. Making the effort to get a babysitter and go out with my hubby or meet up with friends even when I am tired and would rather just go to sleep is so very worth it. You can change your state of mind or state of being in an instant.
Instead of asking myself “Do I really want to go/do etc…?” I ask myself “What if I couldn’t?” What if I was incapable of even considering these options due to sickness, old age or worse? After pondering that thought, the answer is always YES! Let’s GO!
WORK
I no longer work harder and longer but I do work smarter. I prioritize according to MY description of what is urgent not other people’s. The reality is that some issues are time sensitive but many other are not. Turns out that people can wait and will not explode if they fail to receive an answer in 2 hours or less! In fact as long as you are clear about your response time turn around, most people can wait up to 48 hours or more.
I no longer check my email first thing in the morning, late at night or constantly throughout the day. Email is a fabulous tool but it can also be a nightmare that sucks up all your time without you even realizing until it’s too late. I schedule specific times and I limit the time spent answering. If I can make a phone call instead of email, I will. It’s faster and provides a much better source for communication.
What have been some the consequences of these new additions in my life?Â
I no longer let high maintenance people, social media and tv waste my valuable time.
I go to sleep earlier
I am actively pursuing my MUSTS each day
I feel calm, relaxed and more appreciative of each moment of my day
I have less stress and less feelings of not being “enough”
I have more self-confidence and happiness and enjoy sharing it with others
I feel like I am in a constant state or learning and growth
I have discovered a sense of wonder in everyday moments
My self development journey has many facets to it. Running and writing are some of the bigger ones for sure but by far the most important one is the realization was that TIME didn’t need to be found. It was always there waiting for me. I just needed to know where to look.Â
I’m officially a few hours late with this post but it has been a crazy day…..and a crazy week! Trying to get EVERYTHING done before Spring Break begins on Monday has pretty much tipped me over the edge.
March happens to be one the busiest months in dance studio world. First week is Spring Break but instead of closing and taking the week off we hold a day camp so we actually end up with more work than we would on a normal week! Annnnnd…..It’s officially the start of competition season which means I have been drowning in planning, scheduling and rehearsing.
Other than work, I’ve also been planning for next week’s trip to New York with the hubby. We will be leaving the kiddos with their godparents for 5 days (Cue crazy laughter….bahahahahaaaaa)  It will also be our 11 year wedding anniversary and we will be celebrating in style, sans enfants 😉  Okay so our reason for choosing NY may sound romantic but really it’s because we will be going to a fabulous Tony Robbins conference -see My Ultimate MOTIVATOR for all the details!!
All exciting stuff but just a lot of planning and preparation for our trip, the kids trip and tying up the loose ends at work.
So the question is how much running did I get in this week? Ummmm…..not much honestly. Life took over and I only ran twice and not for very long either. All I could think of was how fast could I finish the workout so I could get some real work done. Same goes for writing and healthy eating, basically the whole week was a bust.
It’s okay though, I’m not going to get too upset with myself-just aim to do better next week. Although maybe some early planning would have helped…I will admit to being a HUGE procrastinator. I can put off doing something for 3 weeks then get it done in 30 minutes once I really have to. On the other hand, maybe finding an extra 5 -10 hours a day would help me during times like these…if anyone knows how to do this PLEASE pass along your info!!
The highlight of my week was coming home last night from teaching and opening the mail. Naturally I threw the bills and other boring letters over to my husband and went straight for the package 😉 Turns out my favorite aunt, who happens to be one of the most amazing, loving, caring and generous people I know, sent me a book. For no reason. It’s not my birthday. It’s not Christmas. She just saw it, bought it and sent it along to me….from Singapore. Yes, she lives in Singapore. No one should ever send anything via the mail from Singapore, they charge you the equivalent of a small mortgage.
Thank you my fabulous Aunt!!
Your little gift will help me to refocus and JUST RUN this coming week!
This past weekend we finally had some “mild” weather….
Dressed for “mild” weather
With this lovely weekend forecast, hubby and I decided to take the kids sledding on the mountain. It has been such a cold winter that we really haven’t had the opportunity to enjoy many outdoor activities. So when given this opportunity, we went for it! We anticipated a lovely day of sledding on the mountain with a few hot chocolate breaks in between.
We definitely got what we wanted….and as always with kids, we got more….much more!!  😉
Mistake #1
Walking from the car to the mountain was equivalent to marathon distance for a 3 and 6 year old waddling in snow gear.
Kids: Are we there yet? Are we there yet?
Us: Yes!! This is it guys, we are here!!
Kids: Then why are we still walking??
Mistake #2
It did not occur to us to put a rope through the sleigh in order to pull them back up the mountain.
As we passed other families pulling their smiling little ones on sleighs, our kids just stared at them and then gave us the evil eye as they exclaimed…Mommy! Daddy! Look at THOSE kids!!! Look what THEIR parents did!
Mistake #3
Picking Chloe up the first time meant picking her up EVERY TIME. If we did not comply she promptly fell face down into the snow…possibly on purpose?? And once she was down, Zach followed…before we knew it we were all down….
Chloe: Mommy?! Mama?! Daddy?! UP!!!!
Zach: Me too?? Pleeeeeeeeease!!!!
Us: No. Let’s all lie down and nap.
No one wants to get up so maybe we should just make snow angels?
Mistake #4
Leaving the snacks in the car.
Within 5 minutes of getting to the top, both kids announce they are hungry and want a snack.Whaaat??? Seriously guys? No joke, they had eaten nonstop during the entire 20 minute car ride it took to get to the mountain.
Unexpected Bonus: Cross Training!!
Fabulous full body workout trekking up the mountain carrying 35lbs of little girl 😉
(Minor) Drawback
I carried Chloe a few times, then like a good wife passed the duty on my husband. He was NOT impressed!
Cross Training for Parents 101
Despite the craziness and a few difficulties, we really did have a great time. We got in some unexpected workouts (!) and we were all 1000% EXHAUSTED by the end.
And there’s nothing better than enhancing exhaustion with a massive hot chocolate sugar overload….
Awesome Parenting Tip #25: Exhausted kids? Give them a cup of sugar and let the fun begin 😉
Only one thought remains….we have done our duty as parents and encouraged our children to enjoy the great Canadian outdoors. Skating was checked off the list and now sledding too. Yay!
So can SPRING hurry up already????? I am sick of this winter wonderland!!
As I journey through the months leading up to my first ever marathon, I have taken on a more serious approach to eating clean. So when I was offered the opportunity to sample and review #HempHearts for Manitoba Harvest FoodsI was really excited! I had seen their products in local stores and even previously tried the HempPro 70 Chocolate Protein Powder  after receiving a sample of it through the #SweatPinkcommunity. I love the protein powder and have been using it ever since however #HempHearts were new to me.
So first question if you don’t know anything about this product, is what is hemp exactly? Well all the details you need to know can be found hereand here!Â
However very simply put, hemp hearts are raw shelled hemp seeds. They have a taste similar to pine nuts or sunflower seeds, they come in this fun little package and they pretty much go with EVERYTHING! From smoothies, shakes and yogurts to salads, soups and pasta, you can use hemp hearts to season pretty much any meal or snack. And as per the company’s info –Hemp Hearts have more protein and omegas and less carbs than the same serving of chia or flax. Now how awesome is that? Not to mention my kids LOVED them!! They had so much fun sprinkling the hemp hearts on their food and it was an easy sell taste wise too! Can’t beat that 😉
To top it off, if you are in need of a little inspiration Manitoba Harvest Foods has a fabulous Recipe Pagethat lists simple to prepare and delicious meal and snack ideas. I encourage you to try some out, they are amazing!!
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I really enjoyed sampling the #HempHearts and will now be adding them to my grocery list along with the HempPro 70 Chocolate powder–which has a smooth and delicious chocolaty taste!!
GIVE-A-WAY ALERT!!! Manitoba Harvest is giving away a bag of Hemp Hearts to one lucky reader!! All you have to do is comment on this blog post and like my FB page: Montreal Runner Mom. Then follow @ManitobaHarvest on IG or Twitter and tweet about the giveaway. Use the hashtag #HempHearts for a better chance of getting noticed!!
Winner will be chosen at random and announced on my FB page on Wednesday February 25th 2015 then Manitoba Harvest will send out your prize 🙂
I am so proud to support this fabulous Canadian company and their delicious, healthy and easy to use products! Thank you Manitoba Harvest Foods and Sweat Pink!!Â
What does Valentine’s Day mean to you? Is it chocolate and flowers? A romantic dinner for two? DIY Valentine’s cards that took 2 hours to make for your child’s school friends? Or just a random warm and fuzzy commercial reason to help us get through the most arctic month of the year?
For my family it’s definitely all of the above but also a little more…. Yes, the hubby and I will go out for a nice romantic dinner. Yes, our little ones for weeks now, have eagerly been anticipating a chocolate, heart and teddy bear filled day. And yes, it is a super commercial excuse to buy junk we don’t need. Doesn’t mean we won’t participate a little though…after all it is also just plain old fun 🙂
Despite all this, I would also like to propose a little more. Maybe this year in addition to the typical Valentine’s celebrations, we could actually take a moment to teach our children that it’s more than just chocolate and flowers.
This is a great opportunity to show our kids that love comes in many forms. Family love, friendship love, romantic love, love for the activities and ideas we are passionate about, love of nature and so much more!
So this year, I will encourage my little family to do the following:
Tell a friend why they love and appreciate them
Call a grandparent and let them know they are loved
Remember and acknowledge the love they had for someone who is no longer in our daily lives.
Identify the things they love most about themselves and about the world around them.
Remember to love with their words and their actions all year long, not just on this cinnamon heart filled weekend 😉
Look for unconventional sources of love in our community and around the world. It is important to teach children that all love is beautiful even when it is different from our own.
No matter how many things differentiate us from one another, the one thing that binds every single human being on this planet together is love. We all want to love and be loved. Even though we are bombarded daily with news stories and images of atrocities world wide, each and every person wants the same thing. Love.
So from my little corner of the world to yours…Happy Valentine’s Day! May you be surrounded by the ones you love and pass on some love to others too.
A topic that comes up a lot in my life is kids and competition. There seems to be two camps and I see both within my job as a dance studio owner and also as a mom. There are the ultra competitive families who are in it to win at all costs and there are those who just want their kids to have fun. That second group often wants to compete as well but they want to do it for fun…sometimes I even wonder if it’s just for the prestige of saying they or their children are competitive athletes….
Competition just for fun? Sure it’s fun but I believe there has to be more to it than that.
When I started running, I knew instantly that I would race. It wasn’t even a question in my mind. The major reason I enter races is because I need to feel that I am in a constant competitive state with myself in order to improve. Every race has as a goal to beat a previous race time. Nothing else. Yes it’s fun, yes it’s exciting but there is a purpose. The purpose is become a better runner with every step I take. Running is a competition against myself but without the competitive environment of a racing, I believe it would be so much harder for me to improve.
In terms of my dance students I believe it should be the same. If you are going to be in any competitive sport, dance or otherwise, it should be because you have as a goal to achieve your absolute best. And that takes WORK. Serious hard core work. Work means sacrifice and sacrifice is not always fun. However the results are 🙂
I once had a client who told me that when her children were young she felt that they weren’t naturally competitive enough. They didn’t seem to strive to be the best they could be in anything. Knowing the best way to lead is by example, she took matters into her own hands. She signed up for a triathlon. Just like that. A triathlon. She had been athletic in high school but now she was a regular mom with a job and 3 kids. She began the training and had her kids watch as much as possible as she ran around her neighborhood, swam laps in her pool and biked everywhere. She even found the previous year’s winner online and showed her kids the winning time to beat.The kids timed her, encouraged her and were there at the finish line cheering her on. She was so determined that she even made the podium at the race. She wanted to show her kids that as much as anything is possible, it also takes a serious amount of hard work to achieve something big.
My client told me this story backstage at a dance competition moments before her daughter was to go onstage. Her daughter was by far one of the most naturally competitive kids I have ever taught. This lovely little girl also had a brother who was a competitive hockey player and a sister who was a competitive swimmer. All three kids were academically competitive and successful as well. It was amazing to see how the experience of watching their mom train and compete in a triathlon years before had really shaped their outlook on life.
This is what it comes down to….hoping and wishing for good luck do not bring success. Incredibly hard work and pushing yourself to your limits do. Competition is a good thing for everyone because it pushes you to be the best you can be. I really believe that if children learn to be competitive in sports at an early age, they will carry that through into their adult lives and careers. However they also need to be taught that being competitive is not always going to be fun and games and actually that is the most important part of the lesson.
I found my client’s story to be incredibly inspirational. It is the reason I want my kids to see me run and be there at every finish line that I cross. I want them to know that it takes hard work but that the rewards of being competitive in sports or anything else are what give you the results and ultimately the life you want. When my children are a little older and they find something they love to do, I will wholeheartedly encourage them to pursue it competitively in order for them to learn what I believe to be are some very valuable life lessons.
This week my kids unknowingly gave me the answers to the question that I get asked the most: Why do I run?
Pretty much everyone who is a non-runner has asked me this question in the past year and a half. Non-runners seem to be satisfied with a get fit, lose weight, be more healthy type of answer however they don’t seem to understand the desire to run beyond accomplishing those first little goals. So when my kids asked me the same thing this week, I really took the time to go deep and find an answer….not by choice though! Their timing was less than perfect at 7:15am 😉
However, being forced to undergo an inquisition by a 6 and 3 year old will really get to the bottom of any burning questions one might have. They are just never satisfied with the answers given, there’s always another WHY? WHY MOMMY? but…..WHY??? So one snowy morning this week, while trying to get my two little ones dressed in snowsuits, hats, boots and gloves in time for school- I was subject to the KIDDIE INQUISITION.
It went something like this….
Mommy? Mommy….?? Mommmmmmmyyyyy????? –Put your snow pants on.
Are you going to the gym today?-Yes
Why?-I have to. Put your snow pants on.
Why? -I always go on Tuesdays. Put your snow pants on.
But why do you go?-I like to run. Put your snow pants on.
Why do you like to run?-Are your snow pants on yet???? Stop talking and get dressed!!!
10 seconds of silence…..
Mommy? Mommy….?? -Okay now boots, put your boots on.
Why do you run? -BOOTS!!! You’re going to be late AGAIN!!!! PUT YOUR BOOTS ON!!!
And so it went…..back and forth between my 6 and 3 year old, on and on…..they never let up, they never backed down until finally I surrendered to their questions in an attempt to stop the madness.
Here’s what I learned about why I run.
Zach, Chloe….Mommy runs because…
It makes me happy
When I’m happy I’m a better mommy
The physical pain and temporary discomfort make me feel alive and pushing through it makes me feel powerful
It makes me healthy and that means I can do more and experience more with you
I take my job as your role model seriously and know that my actions speak louder than words
It takes discipline and dedication but gives me clarity and inspiration
It helps me to sit still and focus for long periods of time without getting restless
Habits are inevitable, why not choose healthy ones?
There aren’t any drawbacks to making time for myself
Pushing myself to be the best I can be teaches you how to embrace a healthy competitive spirit
I want you to find your own passion and experience the pure joy that it brings when you pursue it
No other activity, hobby, interest has ever made me as happy, healthy, exhilarated or appreciative as running
Mommy? –Yes Zach?
Have fun at the gym. I love you.
Mommy? –Yes Chloe?
I love you, you my best friend.Â
I love you too my babies. Thank you for helping me to know exactly why I love to RUN!! 🙂
All the stress and preparation from last week has come to an end and the big road trip was completed in record time. My family and I have finally arrived in Connecticut 🙂 There’s nothing like pulling up into the driveway and greeting loved ones you haven’t seen in months, gathering around the table to share food and memories and just plain old relaxing on the couch and catching up on movies.
All of this has the makings for a great holiday season. This and……..NO SNOW!!! So fabulous holiday running here I come! First of all the view from my room this morning was just amazing and inspirational. If this doesn’t get you excited to go outside, nothing will!
I must admit that I bounded out of the house this morning like an overexcited puppy. I just couldn’t wait to get outside and run without slipping on the ice, tripping in heavy snow, avoiding snowplows and wearing 10 layers of clothing! It didn’t even matter that it was raining hard. It was misty, cool and I ran admiring the beauty of nature all around me and enjoying the rain in my face.
I even ran along the beach, drinking in the salty smell of the water. It was one of the loveliest 10km I have ever run! There is a particular joy in running in a new location; not really knowing where you are going, not checking the time, just turning down streets and paths in the hopes of discovering something new and interesting.
I am so grateful for this week and the opportunity I have to be with family during the holidays and run in such an inspiring and beautiful location. This week I will drink it all in, taking advantage of the beauty of this lovely little town and it’s scenery. Each day I will run longer, faster and better than the day before. After 5 days, I will rest for 2 then conquer my upcoming race!!
Wishing everyone a fabulous holiday week and a very Merry Christmas! Hoping Santa is good to all of you tomorrow evening 😉 See you Friday, happy holiday running!
As of today my business is closed for 4 weeks! After working 7 days a week and not having a day off since Thanksgiving (which was the beginning of October here in Canada!) I cannot express how HAPPYÂ and EXCITED I am!
HAPPY 🙂 ….and a little late on everything holiday related!
I now have exactly 1 week to….
Buy, wrap and deliver all gifts to the kids school teachers and friends that we won’t see again until after the New Year
Attend my kids school holiday shows and parties
Celebrate Hanukkah with the family starting tonight
Host a holiday dinner for our company teachers & staff
Host a holiday party for our competitive dance teams
Take my kids to get their photos taken with Santa
Kids dentist appointments
Buy, wrap and pack all gifts that will travel with us when we visit family in the US for Christmas
Do laundry, shop for kids holiday outfits and pack suitcases for all 4 of us
Attend a baby shower
Take my kids to see the Nutcracker ballet
Oh and did I mention, RUN???? lol, maybe I will simply keep my shoes on and run around between errands!
Luckily I got back on track last week with running and my goal is to get in 3 runs before we head out on Monday for our road trip. So in order to get all these things done, something will have to give…sleep maybe?
OMMMMMMMM……..I CAN DO THIS!!!!Â
Despite the craziness, I truly love the holiday season and all that it brings. I love that I have the best of both worlds as we celebrate both Hanukkah and Christmas. I am thankful to have family and friends with whom to share it. My wish for everyone, regardless of what you are celebrating or not celebrating this month, is a happy and healthy season that warms your heart and those you love in a special way!
With this in mind, I am off for my morning run! It’s mild out today only -1, so I am aiming to get in a good 8km. As I run today, my mind will be buzzing with lists, lists and more lists!! Then it’s off to hit the stores and tick those items off the lists. Can’t wait!!
Happy day everyone and Happy Hanukkah tonight to all who celebrate 🙂
Montreal Runner Mom 