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Do you ever just sit back and watch your kids do “dangerous” stuff? Of course, I’m not talking about playing with fire, but I’m just about the furthest thing from a helicopter parent because I believe kids are capable. One of the many reasons we moved to a 7 acre farm in the countryside with trees and fences and animals was to get away from city park jungles where all the hovering parents constantly croon, “Don’t do that! Get down! Don’t climb on that!”

Newsflash!!! Kids are designed to climb, and it’s GOOD for their upper body strength, core and pelvic floor!

Just the other day, I looked out my window to see this…

That’s “TeeTee” our cat just hanging out with my boy! Strengthening his grip, stretching his back… so awesome!

Another blogger expert who has written about climbing and hanging {much more so than I} is Katy Bowman, founder of the Restorative Exercise Institute and Aligned and Well. She wrote this wonderful, detailed article about adults hanging, and this one about child development and hanging

… and of course TeeTee needed pettings and lovings, too! He’s peering down into her face! Cute!

The next thing I know, he’s jumped off the fence (yes, we let him jump… gasp!) and he’s pulled a long board out of his daddy’s scrap pile – a board that is no doubt heavier than him!

That is no particle board. It’s a water-logged 2×6 and he hauled it for 40 feet at least! Strong 4 year old!

Did I yell at him to “put that back before you hurt yourself!” Nope. What I did do was open the back door and ask him what he was going to do with it. His answer: I dunno, Mom, but I like this big board, and I have strong muscles to pull it, so watch ME, Mom!!

Still dragging his heavy board… If he drags this now, what will he be able to drag when he’s ten?? And isn’t that the idea? Don’t we want strong kids?

You can’t imagine how tickled I was when he set up the board onto a bench and proceeded to practice his balancing. Shortly after this, he called his older sister over to join him, and I had the pleasure of watching un-prompted fitness taking place in my children.

See me balance this way, Mom! I’m good at balancing. Yes, you are, baby. Yes, you are!

I love just watching my kids explore their world. They’ve taken a couple tumbles here and there, and they seldom make the same mistake once they fall. I learned that if I constantly told them they would fall, and they didn’t fall, then they wouldn’t trust me. I had to learn to trust them. Children usually know their physical boundaries better than adults. Adults tend to push their limits and get injured more often than kids do. When kids are allowed to safely test their physical strength in a natural environment, I believe they’ll be stronger and LESS prone to injury. It’s the kids who live in padded cells of homes and playgrounds with hands always outstretched to catch them that don’t understand gravity and their own limits. But maybe that’s just my own not-so-humble opinion. What are your thoughts?

Thank you for reading the Fit2Blog today! What are your thoughts about what you read? Please leave a reply or a question, and be sure you’re taking advantage of our amazing TummySafe™ workouts!

I never tire of talking about abs and bellies and diatasis, but how about I take a mini break and give you a peek into my current life? Six months ago, my family ditched city life in Portlandia, sold our .16-acre lot and 1,700 sq. ft. bungalow, and moved to a 1,400 sq.ft. “fixer upper” a 7-acre farm in rural Washington State. For my husband, moving to the country has always meant goats… and eating lots of peaches. He and I both grew up on farms, so moving to the country has felt like coming home.

My man and our girl with one of our cats and chihuaha Charlie.

So yesterday, after mending fences and watching umpteen videos about milking and caring for goats, we purchased two from a local farmer: Daphne and Persephone. They are cross Alpine/Nubian and likely both pregnant. We brought them home in the back of our minivan, and the more docile Daphne went peacefully into the barn, lulling me into the false belief that all was well and I could let down my guard. Hindsight: she probably didn’t fight much because she was engorged and didn’t care to run. But “Persy” on the other hand… let just say that fitness and farm life collided in a big way when she pulled a U-turn in the barn, drug my daughter for a couple feet (thank the Lord she let go) and then took off down our quarter-mile driveway.

This is my girl holding a baby bunny she rescued from our cats and released back into the wild. She’s drafting a book about it… um, not sure why it’s sideways.

Have you ever experienced a surreal moment where you’re trying to decide if what you’re chasing is worth it? There I am sprinting after that stupid (smart) goat, leaving my kids bawling as I holler back at them to go home and stay there! And I’m wondering if I give up, go back and get the van and my littles, or keep running. I took a belly breath, told myself “tummy tight” and kept running.

That wretch went right out onto the main road! Cars were swerving because our drive is on a blind corner. It’s a blessing that no wrecks happened. So there we are, this little nanny goat and me running up the yellow line on a rural road. One driver rolled down his window and yelled, “At least yer in shape!” Another driver rolled down her window and said, “I know a good vet if this doesn’t turn out good!” That energized me again to run a bit faster.

Me and Persy in the back of a good samaritan’s truck.

Finally, once enough cars had slowed and realized my predicament, a few drivers responded to my wildly flapping arms and cries for help, and they wedged their vehicles sideways in the road and jumped out to help me catch the beast. She was so fast that I was still a few car-lengths back watching them chase her round and round their rigs! Oy! That same driver ended up being a lovely bartender who offered us (me and the goat) a ride back to the house after we caught Persy. She took this pic of me and Percy in the back of her truck and texted me later to say I’m fondly known at the Sportsman Bar & Grill in Ridgefield as “The Goat Lady.” Awesome.

This flock lived in our tiny backyard in the city, but they LOVE the farm life! Meet Trudy, Sparkles and Blacky!

That’s how this blog was started: because I posted this status on our Facebook fan page last night: Don’t let my “gentle” workout style fool you. I haven’t done any sprint training in YEARS, yet today I sprinted across a field, over a fence, and a quarter-mile down a country road to catch a blasted goat that got loose! We stopped traffic. Someone muttered, “Well at least yer in shape!” Funny thing was that I was in workout gear and crocs. Should I post a picture of me and the goat hitching a ride home in the back of someone’s truck? #farmGIRLfitness #realMOMrealFITceo #girlsGONEcountry

Peek down at the bottom of this page to see who’s on Fit2B right now!

So these are some snapshots of my life. It’s real. It ain’t rich. We are clawing for an existence in this world just like each of our members. Fit2B Studio has been raised up from scratch over the past three years, and while our videos are top notch and I look real “purdy” in them, as my husband would say, there is real dirt under my nails and real brambles in my fields and an iron-stained utility sink in my unfinished kitchen and a certain smell in my son’s bedroom and I spilled the fresh milk from the goat this morning… And I’m okay with that. Because this is my life. And it is beautiful <3 Thank you for reading!

Thank you for reading the Fit2Blog today! What are your thoughts about what you read? Please leave a reply or a question, and be sure you’re taking advantage of our amazing TummySafe™ workouts!

 One of my relatives, Frank W. Buckles, was the last surviving veteran of WW1. He died last week at age 110. Then this week, my husband’s beloved work kitty passed onto the land of endless sand and catnip. No less young in cat years compared to people years, this picture of Marbles sitting on a warm forklift was taken just days before she passed. Both Marbles and Frank wore scars from many battles. Both were loyal to and loved by their people. Rest in Peace, both of you. We’ll miss you. Thanks for bringing our hearts and homes a great measure of peace, each in your own way.

Thank you for reading the Fit2Blog today! What are your thoughts about what you read? Please leave a reply or a question, and be sure you’re taking advantage of our amazing TummySafe™ workouts!

We personal train ourselves every day! I’m not talking about fitness; I’m talking about habits in general. We make decisions in nano-seconds that either re-affirm or re-train our personal wellness and fitness routines. Am I going to put a little less sugar in my coffee this morning? Am I going to spend five extra minutes doing laps or get out of the pool early? Am I going to train myself to be a better person, or just let myself stagnate?

This walrus is certainly not skipping any workouts!

By the way, situps and crunches might be fine for walruses but not humans. That said, did you notice the little reward that his personal trainer kept slipping him after each accomplishment? As you train yourself, establishing good health habits every day, make sure – as your own personal trainer – that you reward yourself for a job well done! Just make sure the calories in your reward are less than the calories in your accomplishment

Thank you for reading the Fit2Blog today! What are your thoughts about what you read? Please leave a reply or a question, and be sure you’re taking advantage of our amazing TummySafe™ workouts!