Fossils

Linnea is absolutely obsessed with the cartoon Dinosaur Train.  Do you know how long she has been watching that cartoon? Less than 4 months. That is not even 12 percent of her life. And the obsession goes so far that she tells her brother that she is taking him to pteranodon station in some part of the triassic time period. My not yet 3 year old thinks saying these things are normal.

Linnea showing me her collection while
looking forore to add!

It is so ingrained in her psych that every single time we go for a walk, hike, grocery store or just walk down the hall to her bedroom she looks for fossils to add to her collection, just like on the Dinosaur Train.

What truly smacked me about this rapid take over of her imagination was just how normal dinosaur train is in our lives. Like there was never a time without it.

That is exactly how I want exercise to be for Linnea and Sagan. Normal, like there was never a time without it.

I come from a large family and have watched all of the struggles that go along with being an over weight person not only with myself but also people I love. But nothing about being overweight could prepare me for watching my father battle type II diabetes and lose.

In his defense he had a confirmed case of

Dancing with my Dad at my wedding!

diabetes caused by exposure to agent orange during Vietnam. But his inability to manage it, mostly related to diet, led to two lost legs, kidney disease, high blood pressure, strokes, heart attacks, and ultimately an early death at 63.  He battled with the disease for roughly 20 years but the last two were awful. Multiple hospital stays that lasted for weeks. A second lost leg. Dietary restrictions that were incomprehensible. Medication regiments that were a game of what caused the least negative interactions. He  even had to live in a nursing home just to deal with normal things like showering. He couldn't do them on his own thanks to diabetes. It was awful to watch  someone you love think he might die alone tjaet night.

It was so hard for me to watch my father be in a medically induced coma and intubated more times than I can count. But the absolute worst part of it all was knowing it was preventable. Or in his case at least manageable.

So how does that tie into the dinosaur train? Linnea already doesn't remember a life where dinosaur train wasn't a part of it. That is exactly how I want exercise to be for both her and Sagan. I want being in shape to just be a routine thing you do everyday, like looking for fossils in your bedroom.

My friend Annie told me one

Fossil from my run this morning. 

time this little saying about parenting regarding how we were raised versus how we raise our kids: "When we know better, we do better."

While that might not have been why I started running years ago, it is such a huge motivation for me today. It is physically easier to be whatever size I am, but I know better so I will do better.