Exercise in frustration

This morning, I decided to put in a Pilates video that has been gathering dust in our t.v. stand. With Claire still not quite there on the potty-training, going to the gym has become more hassle than it's worth, with the nursery workers pulling me out of class every ten minutes or so to take her to the bathroom.

So I thought it would be less frustrating to just do a video.

Well, 45 minutes later and I have at least worked up a sweat. For any of you who have ever tried Pilates, you should appreciate this: it is MUCH harder to do when balancing a baby on your hip, or having said baby straddle your chest while doing floor exercises. Not to mention the many, many times I had to pause it in order to re-allign the girls (who all, of course, decided to do the video with me) so that no-one got kicked in the face. So, all in all, I got some kind of work-out, but I'm not sure it's the one Denis Austin had in mind.

This is the story of my life right now. Before putting that video in none of them had any interest in me whatsoever. Abbie was happily playing with her drums, Katie and Beth were playing some kind of store game, and Claire was wandering around in her own world. But the moment I ever try to actually get something done they all suddenly swarm like locusts; Abbie desperately needs to be held, Beth suddenly falls ten times in a row, injuring herself in ten different ways, Claire decides that part of her must be touching part of me at all times, and Katie invariably picks this chaotic time to give us all a sound lecture on where we have failed in life.

But while I was gritting my teeth and desperately trying to just get through the video, I knew in the back of my mind that, could I see the scene in my living room through third person, what I would see would be hilarious. Babies hanging off a hassled mother's pants' leg, threee tiny little girls earnestly trying to follow an adult workout, with no idea that they were constantly getting in the mother's space....it's comedy gold. As a way to start your Saturday though...well, I guess there are worse ways!