I searched for a stroller class on-line while I was pregnant. My friend and amazing mom TLB was my inspiration. In grad school she taught Jazzercise classes and I soon became an enthusiastic participant. (Yes, Jazzercise. No, no one wears leg warmers and leotards to Jazzercise anymore.) Then when TLB became a mom she started taking stroller classes and now she's an instructor. Unfortunately, she's an instructor several thousand miles away from me so I needed to find something a bit closer.
Though every class is different, a typical session includes a warm-up during which us moms introduce ourselves and our kids. We walk around the park a bit and stop to do strength exercises or additional cardio. It's ingenious. The instructor's uncanny timing keeps the kids content in their strollers. Just when they are about to fuss, we walk.
The strength exercises often use resistance bands and while we're doing curls, rows, squats or leg lifts, we sing nursery rhymes. This was a shock to me during my first class. I soon learned I was not the nursery rhyme aficionado that I thought. A sample of my performance the first day. . .
"Hickory dickory dock. The. . .hmm. . .ran up the clock. Hmm. . .hmm. . .hmm. Hmm. . .hmm. . hmm. Hickory dickory dock."
"Ten little monkeys jumping on the bed. La la la. . .and bumped his head. Mama. . .blah blah blah blah blah. . ."
And did you know that there is a second verse to Row Row Row Your Boat? Something about a lion and a roar and rowing to the shore. Who knew?!
Of course, I would blurt out as much as I knew during the beginning of each exercise, but after a few reps I could barely suck in enough air to keep up with the move, let alone sing a kids song in a happy mommy voice.
During the week of Easter our instructor said there would be an egg hunt, games and prizes. I thought that it was so nice of her to have such activities for the older kids after class. Turns out those activities were for us, the moms. In one "game" we had to walk, skip and gallop to a goal post with a plastic egg on a spoon. if we dropped the egg, we had to do 10 jumping jacks.
Guess which mommy continuously dropped her egg and was the last to finish the "game"?
Yup, I felt like I was in grade school gym class all over again. I was just waiting to be picked second from last.
All embarrassment aside, stroller class is a perfect fit. Even if it includes baby sneezes.
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