exercise

As Elliot posted about a month ago, Ada has been forcing him to play tag most nights after she gets home from school. I've been spared this request because 1) I'm not there all the time, and 2) I'm hurt and as Ada says 'You can't run because you are hurt'.

Well last night was the first night of daylight savings time and in celebration Elliot took Ada to a park near our house. They took her big girl bike (without training wheels) and Ada sort of rode there and back, and she ran around the park a bit and played with some neighborhood kids when she got back home. All in all a nice evening in the lingering sunshine.

Elliot figured it was a nice break from the normal immediate onslaught of tag, but just a break, not a reprieve.

Ada saw it differently. It was in this moment that Ada's motivation for the game of tag came to light.

As they entered the house Ada declared 'I don't need to play tag tonight because I've already exercised!'

Wow.

Yes.

That's right, our little baby has already drilled into her mind that she should exercise every night. I know that my drive for exercise comes from a very similar place. I learned to love the feeling of working out at a young age (although not as young as Ada), and it is the memory of this feeling that drives me to stay in shape and get back into shape when I've lagged for a bit (or been pregnant or injured). I can't tell you how amazed (and happy) I am that Ada has made this connection to exercise.

I'm sure there is a percentage of you that think I'm crazy for being so happy that Ada already has this affinity for exercise, but in a society dominated by childhood obesity and other unhealthy habits, I'm pretty darn happy that simply through example Ada already has a grasp on living healthy.

Now, if I could get her to stop asking for Mac-n-Cheese every night I might be on to something.