Thursday, April 30, 2009

Teacher's Pet

After my tempo run at the track this morning I emailed Jen to tell her about it... I was so proud to be able to tell her how I paced it spot on and was actually able to change up pace as prescribed.

While I was running I thought constantly about what I was going to say to her about it... and how much I wanted to be able to tell her that I nailed it.

It occurred to me that maybe something was wrong if my biggest motivation to run hard was so that I could tell Jen that I followed her instructions. I'm such the Teacher's Pet. But hey, whatever works, right?

Moana was not the Teacher's Pet today.

I took her over to Jenny's house to play today. Jenny has a 16 month old daughter named Sadie. She was very interested in the baby. She wanted to hold the baby.

Moana thought it was a good idea to eat Sadie's toys.

Sadie thought it was a good idea to eat her mom's shoes. I probably shouldn't have let her do that. Or at least not taken a picture of it.

I will admit it though... the real motivation of the trip was that Jenny is a triathlete and crazed stay-at-home-mom like me... desperate to get outside on her bike during the week. We met at the last two local sprint triathlons and within a few minutes of conversation about our daughters, our training, and our daily lives, she said to me, "I feel like I am looking in a mirror."

We enthusiastically agreed to do the baby exchange thing at her house today so we could each have a couple of glorious hours outside on our bikes. I will admit it (shame on me I know), I listen to my iPod when I'm out riding alone... today I was belting it out loud (Martina McBride's Happy Girl came on and I. could. not. help. myself...) much to the dismay of a Japanese woman who happened to be stopped next to me at a red light with her windows down.

Poor Jenny though. While I was out gleefully practicing singing and pedaling at the same time, for reasons unknown, Moana went into a I swear you better hold me full time and if you so much as put me down for a second I'm going to scream bloody murder mode. I don't know how moms handle two kids at once. Seriously.

In good news, Jenny invited us back next week, which pretty much just proves how addicted to our bikes we are... because as hard as it was to handle two little ones at once, it's totally worth it for the free time to ride outside.

13 comments:

Allison Chapple said...

Look at her sitting up!! Baker can't do that yet. He flops over.

GetBackJoJo said...

Nice. It's tough to find another mom who is a crazed triathlete. I have found a few--but most aren't local. Lots of men, lots of single girls--not so many moms. We are a rare and special breed.

I know it seems impossible to have another baby--or another two--or three. But it's doable. It's just tough to go back to square one again--you know--those first three months. But when they get older (mine are 7,5,4) they PLAY together and you can just hang. It's such a relief. You can park your ass on the trainer and they hardly get after you at all! :) haha.
Your baby is a blond cutie.

Rebecca DeWire said...

A baby exchange is a great idea! I am convinced that Hawaii is filled with triathlete moms, more so than other states, because I have yet to really find any where I live.

Most days I feel like I can barely handle one baby. It is reassuring to read the post that it is doable to have more than one, but I am not convinced yet!

Molly said...

Oh I so hear you on planning out your TP updates in the middle of the workout! I am constantly revising what I want to write based on what is happening! Great job nailing your workout!!!

Natalie D said...

THat is a GREAT Thing to have!! Too cute with the 2 little girls. Moana's eyes or something in her facial expressions reminds me of Nick! Great job on the workout! ANd glad you got out on the bike. That is so key!

Jennifer Harrison said...

Yeah! OH TRUST ME, I would rather have ALL Teacher's Pets than a few sour apples. Attitude is everything and nailing the workouts IS A BIG DEAL! And, if the coach doesn't get excited about NAILING the workouts - then who does? YESSSSSSSSS!

I was thrilled to see the email! :)

Oh, and I am going to brush OVER the riding w/ the Ipod....pretend I did not read that. We would die here in Chicago - and you didn't know me when I lost one of our good friends to his bike/Ipod. Didn't hear the train as he crossed the tracks. I know, hate to be a downer, but that is real.

:) PS Moana is so cute and I used to flip flop with some friends when my 7 year olds were babies....:)

Lisa T said...

I'll admit to the Ipod too- except I'm only brave enough to wear one earphone. That way I can hear AND I don't sing quite so loud!

Marit C-L said...

Hey - NOTHING wrong with wanting to nail the workouts :) And whatever it takes to simply get us through... well, there you have it! GREAT job on the track set! Awesome!!!

Mona is so cute - and in spite of her wanting to be held/loved/cuddled/fill-in-the-blank when you were gone, things obviously worked out. That's great! Hooray!!!

Angela and David said...

That's an awesome arrangement you've worked out with Jenny. I'm jealous.

During every workout I think about what comment I'm going to leave for Jen about it on Training Peaks.

Mnowac said...

Oh how nice to have someone to exchange babies with for workouts! Glad she invited you back despite Moana not being on her best cutie patootie behavior :)

N.D. said...

simmons, you were up at 6am doing workouts by this point!! I should be too!

RunningMama said...

How do you go about asking other moms if they want to do a babysitting swap? I've hinted at it with other moms, but none have taken the bait.

Angela said...

I've recently met a triathlete mom at soccer that I want to ask to do this but I'm a bit nervous...Maybe I'll "just do it" this Friday and ask her! What a great arrangement.

Everyone told me that going from no children to one was an adjustment, then from 1 to 2 made you realize how much time you wasted with just 1...and any more after than was nothing at all. I'm not entirely convinced of that yet. But yes, 2 is an interesting mix and I can't wait to see what 3 will be like.