I don't care what anyone says...

...but is is tough finding time to exercise properly when you have a child.

I am not talking about using the fact that you have a child as an excuse not to exercise. It can be done. I'm just saying all things being equal, it is way tougher to find time to work out if you have a child than if not. I should add in particular that I'm talking about babies really. Mine is 19 months old. I can't say yet if it is more difficult if one has older children.

I speak from experience. I was without child for more than 10 years after I got married. Without a baby, really, I had all the time in the world to do whatever I wanted. My husband was/is not an obstacle at all, as he is generally supportive of most of my endeavors. Besides, he was working 2nd shift (i.e. I was alone from 5 pm to 2 am nightly), so I had all kinds of time to myself - to exercise, sing karaoke, perform rock operas in my living room - whatever!

I am not complaining. I LOVE being a mom and having a son, and I don't miss my past life and don't want it any other way. I am only comparing my life pre-child versus post-child when it comes to working out....and as I said, all things being equal, it is way more difficult to find the time. That is, if you want to be a good mom.

I could ignore my kid and do what I want to do, but I don't want to do that. A big part of this problem is that I work 40 hours a week outside the home. So I really want to spend time with him...as much time as possible, when I am home. That, to me, is more important than getting a workout in.

I know it's important to keep my own health up, too, for the sake of my son, and I'm still doing that. But damn...if time is tight, and I have a choice of working out for an hour versus playing with my baby after not seeing him all day, you are damn right that I am playing with the baby.

In some ways, being a SAHM might be harder, but I know I'd get my workouts in if I was one, and I'd get a heck a lot more stuff down around the house, too. For one thing, my mom can watch the baby one day a week so that would buy me some time. Also, at this writing, baby sleeps for 2-4 hours in the afternoon, so I get stuff done then on weekends (if I don't crash), so I know I could do it on week days, too.

Right now, all I do is work all day then take care of my family on week days, with barely anything extra home-wise on weekends. My household management has gone to hell in a hand basket. I literally don't have the time! And I'm not even watching much TV or wasting my time in ways like that. We end up having the same Netflix movies for months due to the lack of time, in fact. I don't have much time for the computer either...I have to schedule it in if I want to indulge.

My wanting to spend time with baby has nothing to do with my husband helping or not helping either. He helps. I am just really attached to the little guy (baby, not husband. He's not little. So he likes to think), and I want to keep it that way.

This is one of those things that I was wrong about pre-motherhood. I thought moms were just making all kinds of excuses and were lame. But now I understand (and the list of things I "understand" now goes on and on...you really CANNOT judge ANYONE unless you've lived their lives...it's true. And since you will never live someone else's life directly, you can never judge.).

That said...I am still getting my workouts in (although it may not be absolute perfection like I aspired to pre-baby), and having children is still not a good excuse for not exercising at all. I'm just saying, it is a lot harder than it was when it was just me I had to think about.

And I just have one child. I can't imagine 5, or having 3 below the age of 5, or anything like that. I would think it would be damn near impossible if that were the case, whether you are a SAHM or not.

Now, as my son gets older and becomes not so dependent on me for his every need (and in fact wants me to get out of his face which will be duly noted by the "KEEP OUT" sign on his bedroom door) , I would imagine it'll get easier to get my time in. Unless of course I'm spending all my spare time running around to soccer games and practice.

In conclusion, I don't care what anyone says, it is way harder to find any kind of me time, let alone to work out, for an hour if you have a 19-month old son versus having no kids at all. It can be done, but it takes a lot more planning and energy and resources. Everyone should respect that fact.