Is Done With Mommy & Me Yoga!

     Several months ago Bill & I decided that our scale was broken.  We promptly threw it away and it hasn't been replaced since.  Ever since I have been living the sweet life of ignoring when my pants snap open in public, eating popcorn covered in parmesan cheese right before bed and generally stalking the faculty room for snacks.  But it has caught up to me, I suppose.  The evil doctor's office scale with it's 4 pound overages (at least that's what Bill claims), the aforementioned pants that refuse to cooperate by staying snapped and the fact that my mom jeans seem to be filling out in the gut area...  So it may be time to exercise... I suppose.
     Previous attempts at exercise have not gone well since I've had kids.  Well, to be fair, I did enjoy the Mommy & Me yoga class I took with Liam when he was an infant but it's really all gone downhill since then.  I enjoy yoga as much as the next person but I do not enjoy downward facing dog while having my hair pulled by a baby and having a four year old try to climb over Mommy Mountain.  Likewise, it's equally uncomfortable in upwards facing dog with two kids sitting on your back.  And doing the boat pose with Josh sitting "in the boat" (pretty much on my belly while I try to keep my legs bent at the knee and feet levitating) is also not so fun.  I've tried other more fun workouts like the Bollywood dancing.  It just ends up a massive flurry of scarves and then Liam complains that the music "isn't rock and roll enough".  The Family Walk program is met with the least possible amount of enthusiasm.
     So exercising with children is out.  Which leaves the early morning hours.  HAH!  Conveniently, however, with Liam's preschool at the community center, we also have a membership to the gym, classes & pool (this wasn't really an option and we do have to pay for it, so it's less of a perk and more of a necessity).  Being extremely cheap, I feel it's our job to make use of this gym membership and in doing so to hopefully encourage the snap on my pants to stay closed (unless it's a defective snap, that is possible, right?). 
     After 4 months of membership, I went to my first yoga class this past week.  Literally, my first yoga class ever (besides the Mommy & Me class but that class involved babies sleeping, simple stretches and nursing whenever baby was hungry).  And because the world is hilarious like that, the only spot available for me was in the front.  So not only did everyone get to see my lack of balance and grace, I also got to see it face front in the mirror.  Now on my way to yoga I thought to myself that I didn't care what this instructor asked us to do (the wheel, pigeon or chair... bring it on) as long as there were no babies, toddlers or preschoolers looming about. True, I was able to do a downward facing dog without having my leg pulled out from under me, but then who was to blame when I struggled to keep my balance in airplane pose?  And where were my scapegoats when I found that doing the wheel was simply not an option for me and I needed a break (okay, I'll take a break from this grueling yoga practice to get you a cookie)?
     Needless to say, this might be the push I need to get myself back in shape.  I'm not a lazy person but I admit to lately preferring a Cheetoh over an apple.  But it's about time for me to get back to reality.  True, it takes guns of steel to shred cheese while holding a 25 pound clingy child... but apparently that doesn't help tone my jelly belly.  So for now, I think I will wake up at the silly early hour of 5:30 am so I can squeeze in a workout before the day begins.  And maybe... just maybe... in a few weeks in class I'll be able to graduate from the 2 pound weights (yes, laugh at me) to the 4 pound ones!  And maybe I'll even be able to do the tree pose while leaning to one side with my weight held over my head... without falling over.  But just in case, I think next time I'll leave the kids a few minutes earlier to get a spot in the back...