3am: Jumping out of bed from dead sleep to go comfort crying baby: 10 calories burned.
3:05am: Jumping out of bed again to give crying baby a paci, praying feverishly that it sticks this time while imagining inventing elastic ear loops to hold the stinkin’ paci in: 10 calories burned.
4am: Jumping out of bed from dead sleep to go comfort nightmare-having kid: 10 calories burned.
7am: Nursing, changing, rocking baby: 100 calories burned.
8am: Bathing squirming kid: 20 calories burned.
8:10am: Bathing even squirmier baby*: 30 calories burned.
(* add extra 20 calories burned if baby poops in tub and you have to start over. And 20 more calories burned if he does it again)
8:30am: Bouncing, rocking, walking with baby to get him back to sleep: 50 calories burned.
9am: Taking shower at the speed of a high-impact workout in order to make it out before baby wakes up again: 20 calories burned.
9:30am: Carrying baby in baby carrier down stairs and loading kid and baby up in car: 30 calories burned.
9:35am: Performing and holding the yoga move “Downward Paci” for 30 minutes to be able to hold baby’s paci in his mouth while simultaneously driving car: 35 calories burned.
10am: Unloading kid and baby, carrying baby into store, pushing grocery cart with kid and baby inside: 40 calories burned.
10:10am: Pulling screaming baby out of car seat, begin pushing grocery cart with one hand and one hip while holding baby with other hand: 50 calories burned.
10:11am: Picking up 41 pound kid with what was the grocery cart arm when said kid falls and hurts her knee, then pushing cart with nothing but the hips while grocery clerks watch in amazement: 60 calories burned.
10:20am: Loading groceries and kid into the car while still holding baby: 25 calories burned.
10:30am: Unloading groceries, kid, and baby and carrying all but kid into house in one load because you know said baby will begin screaming if you leave him up or down stairs while you unload groceries: 20 calories burned.
10:31am: Putting away groceries while rocking baby, fixing kid’s snack, cleaning out the refrigerator to make room for the groceries, and answering phone: 20 calories burned.
11:00am: Nursing baby, rocking, bouncing, putting back to sleep: 100 calories burned.
11:20am: Running down the stairs to finally answer the screams of “I poooooooped!!! Come wiiiiiipe me!!!” that were on repeat and max volume the entire time you were nursing the baby: 10 calories burned.
11:30am: Sitting down to color, do schoolwork, or watch a movie with kid, running up and down the stairs once every 20 minutes during chosen activity to comfort or rock baby back to sleep, but ultimately getting baby up from nap: 40 calories burned.
2:00pm: Putting kid to sleep, then nursing baby, rocking, bouncing, putting baby back to sleep: 100 calories burned.
2:30pm: Going downstairs to SIT: 0 calories burned.
3:00pm: Washing loads of laundry, cleaning kitchen, straightening up destroyed living room, all at a sprint of a pace, trying to finish before anyone wakes up: 50 calories burned.
4:00pm: Taking kid and baby on a walk to pass the time until Daddy comes home: 50 calories burned.
5:00pm: Cooking dinner while simultaneously (and very unsafely) holding a baby and entertaining a kid: 30 calories burned.
6:00pm: Eating dinner while holding baby, cutting food for kid, talking to husband, and answer kid’s interrupting questions: 5 calories burned.
7:00pm: Nursing, rocking, bouncing, putting to sleep baby while husband puts kid to bed: 100 calories burned.
8:00pm: Collapsing on the couch with husband, out of breath and exhausted. Spending rest of evening wondering why I don’t look like the smokingest hottest of supermodels after that workout: 0 calories burned.
Well, that was eerily familiar. Now fast-forward 1 year and substitute trying to get baby to sleep, with refereeing baby and kid and begging them to PLEASE stop touching each others toys and play nicely! Oh, and baby now weighs 25 lbs and insists on walking, but only in the direction away from you. (It’s a crazy, wild ride isn’t it? :)
And to think you only burned approximately 890 calories during your over busy day. I think you may have under estimated calories burned. To go along with Terram, wait until said boy wants to play ball, two your are schooling, girl decides to play soceer or be a cheerleader. Of course these activities will not be at the same place. No experience myself but I have friends who tell me these stories. I have one friend that left one child at the ball park because she thought the husband was getting him and vice versa. So much fun ahead for you and children. However enjoy every minute, they will be grown and you will have grandchildren before you know it has happened.
That exhausted me just reading it. You definitely underestimated your calories on some of those and deserve mommy points for that grocery store trip. I am impressed that you are even able to jump out of bed during the night. I just groan and drag myself out of bed, trying not to fall.
You could title this post….”how to answer someone when they ask you ‘Just what do you do with yourself all day?’…..” Or “How come you can’t get anything done? you are home all day?”
Yes…been there, done that….and like Kitty….just wait, when they are teens and you have to DRIVE them everywhere. Sadly, no calories burned for driving….
Yes! So true! “This is what I do in between reading my magazines and eating my bon-bons.”
I’m exhausted after reading that!
This sounds so familiar… only I don’t have any stairs here. It’s amazing what you can get done with only one arm, isn’t it?? I’ve made dinner, washed and folded laundry, wrapped presents, gone to the bathroom… all while holding a baby on the hip. It’s amazing what we can get used to :)
Yes – so true! And even what you can get done with no arms!! :)
You are not helping me with my decision to have a second. :P
Although it is more physically exhausting, I’ve found the second much easier mentally, emotionally, and adjustment-wise than the first. It’s been more fun all around, really. It just causes you to ache by the end of the day.
Haha, I didn’t realize there were so many items I do that I can count as exercise! Granted, I only have one to haul around, but I’ll take half of those calories burned any day! LOVE the pic of Noah, has he been doing that sucking/biting on his bottom lip thing a lot lately?? Landon has, and I think it must be something to do with teething. He bites/gnaws/chews EVERYTHING he can get his hands on!
Yes, he’ll suck on anything these days, too. He’s nearly given me a few hickies on my neck and arm in the process.
Sounds very familiar! Now add a 7 year old who is a big help with some of these activities (which would negate some of the calories burned), but also adds to the chaos with “MOOOMMMMYYY, I can’t find_________”, or the fighting between 7 and 4 year olds. Which then makes me get up (sometimes with the nursing baby still attached to the breast) to find the missing object or break up a “stop touching me,” “I had that first”, or “I don’t want to do that” fight! (which adds to calories burned!)
825. I’ve been meaning to ask if you were again doing the Shred (and send you hate mail for pointing me to that horrible woman). You certainly have more patience with your kids than I do.
Nope – no shred yet. Ali keeps asking to do it, but I just don’t have the heart. My day wears me out too much as it is!
I think you burned more than 60 calories at 10:11am!!!
I sure hope so!!
Wow, I am impressed with how fast you got in and out of the grocery store!
Loved reading about your exercises! I agree…why don’t all these activities burn more calories!
Just what I was wondering, too! Also, if the infant on the hip insists on “helping” to push the cart, I think we get to count more calories burned, since he’s throwing all his weight against us!
Very true!! I was pushing the stroller on the side of it while feeding the baby yesterday, and the four year old was “helping” push the stroller from the back – except she was pulling on it, so I was pushing the baby, pulling her, and feeding the baby. i want my workout credit!
Boy that sounds familiar (life for me 1 year ago!). Now, my days sound a lot like your first commenter. I, too, wonder why I don’t look like a supermodel? Maybe it’s the chocolate I gobble down after making it through a day like that???
Yes, chocolate is definitely a coping mechanism that takes away from those calories burned. Dang chocolate!!
Sounds like my day except insert one tantrum having two year old in between the four year old & the baby!! And my husband wonders why the house isn’t clean, dinner is late and I want to go to bed at 8:30!
And I want to know why I’m not skinny after that work out, lol!!
Wow! Sounds like an exhausting day. And I thought one baby was wearing me out! I wonder how many calories I burn cleaning up her spit up. Bending over to scrub it out of the carpet is kinda sorta like doing a squat. Hopefully I burn calories by changing her outfit at least 5 or 6 times and bending over to pick her up off of her play mat only 5 minutes after she insisted that she wanted to be on it. :)
So true! I was trying to get out some extra ab workouts today while I was swaying Noah to sleep. I kinda did the Wii Hula Hoop moves… let’s hope it helps.
I AGREE! I have no idea why I’m not about 50 pounds lighter. I was wondering that very thing today at lunch when it took me over an hour to eat 6 crackers and 2 strawberries in between feeding the baby, trying to determine what was wrong with the screaming-and-refusing-to-eat-his-lunch toddler, and apologizing to the preschooler who was just minding her own business and probably wanted to chuck us all out the window.
I know what you mean!!! I didn’t get to eat a single thing till about 2pm on Monday due to my arms being full of baby. How is that not working out for me??
I totally agree, kids and babies are THE best exercise! Although your bench press has a few more lbs than mine :)
100% confident I’m not having kids. Bookmarked this on my face.
Oh come now… they’re totally worth it at least 95% of the time!!
Whew! That sure makes me tired. ha. Great post.
huh…I’m kinda worn out after reading that….
I love this! If this is right I’m burning a lot more calories then I realized! yay for mommyhood!