Sophie and me off for her first run



I have been so impressed with my four-year old recently and her enthusiasm for exercise. We're an active family so it shouldn't really have been a surprise that she has being requesting to join me on my runs.

The first time we went running she was so excited! She rushed to get changed and was so happy that we were going for a run together. I was so proud of her and impressed that she wanted to run. Amazingly she managed to run most of the way, only stopping briefly to state she was "out of power". But each time, after a very brief break, she started running again with a smile on her face. In total we ran about 1km, not far for me but pretty impressive for a four-year old.

Although she had a busy day at pre-school on Wednesday, she was still keen to go running. So off we went with her 11-year old brother and his friend. This time Sophie found it tougher as she was already tired and enjoyed running part of the way holding either mine or her brother's hand. But she did it. Again she ran most of the way.

Indeed most of the children where I live seem to be quite active. The boys are often out on their bikes or playing football. Fortunately we live in a fairly safe cul-de-sac, so the older children can play in the street. And with a number of lovely parks close by there's plenty of opportunity for exercise.

In my opinion, children need lots of exercise, for the sake of their health and also to burn off some energy! I love running about with my children, bouncing on the trampoline and watching them participate in sport. I remember as a child cycling in the park with my parents, climbing trees and playing tennis as a family.

But it seems that active families like mine could soon be in the minority. Almost a quarter of 6-15 year olds cannot run even 400 metres, according to a survey that was published this week. A Generation of kids turn their back on sport That's only once around an athletics track! A shocking statistic.

Even worse, out of the 1,500 children interviewed, 225 had NEVER played a sport with their parents! In this glorious weather, what excuse is there? It's not expensive to buy a ball or a rounders kit and head to the park for some family fun.

A significant number of children questioned were also unable to swim or ride a bike. But more than three quarters had a games console and almost the same amount had a mobile phone. So it doesn't appear to be lack of money that is preventing children from learning these vital skills.

What kind of future can these kids expect?  

One final bid ...

I committed the ultimate crime today . . . I exposed my midriff when leaving my elder daughter at pre-school. It wasn't that much but it was enough. And after having three children, my third almost a year ago, my tummy is not as flat as it once was.

I have really started to mourn the loss of my flat stomach and am determined to get it back! My husband thinks I should just accept my 'mummy tummy'. Apparently it's a sign of age ... I'm 36, not 56! And he's not the only one who thinks I can't do it ...

"It's the third one that did it!" is a common complaint amongst my mummy friends in relation to the loss of their toned (or not so toned) stomachs.

"Your skin is more stretchy after three ... It's harder to lose weight when you're older ... Your body fat percentage increases as you get older."

I try not to listen. Although I wished I hadn't piled on the pounds during this pregnancy. Each time I've been pregnant, I've put on approximately 4 stone and gone up about four dress sizes (I'm usually a 8/10). Last time I was back in a skimpy bikini within 7 months, following a few months of strict calorie counting and constant visits to the gym. This time I managed to get back into most of my clothes by the time my beautiful daughter was 9 months. I rekindled my passion for running and cut out juice! There most be a lot of hidden calories in juice because the pounds fell off when I stopped drinking it!

To be honest, unless mistakenly exposed, it's not really that obvious that I have a 'mummy tummy' when I have clothes on. But I know it's there. And more importantly, I have 3 or 4 gorgeous dresses hanging in my wardrobe that either 'grab' me unflatteringly at the stomach or even worse the zip won't go all the way up. Ok, the last one was bought in Topshop and was for a 'Sex in the City' night when I dressed as Carrie. It is incredibly short, in fact I really don't know what possessed me to buy a dress so short. I think it looked good on me at the time! But it looks awful on me now and I really don't want to give it to my much slimmer sister who would look fantastic in it!

So I've got two reasons to lose my 'mummy tummy' - to feel better about myself and to look fabulous in my beautiful dresses. The latter reason is purely self-indulgent and vain, according to my husband.

Since my 6 week check I have been walking and running quite frequently and am training for the Race for Life 10k in July. Recently I joined the gym and love Zumba. I also have started doing weights to tone up and going to Body Pump, which I don't love so much, but think it's making some impact on my muscle tone.

Every so often I cut out chocolate, crisps, bread and eat more fruit and veg. I've started a food diary a few times, which is great but requires time and dedication. But over the last month or so I feel like I've been stuffing myself with food - my biggest vices are crisps (Kettle Chips and Tyrells, in particular); chips at the rugby club (very tasty) and chocolate (I've even eaten baking chocolate!) Oh, and bread, which makes my stomach bloat like an overpumped helium balloon.

So I've decided to make a final bid to regain my fondly missed flat stomach This means no crisps or bread, limited chocolate and chips. Although with the number of birthday parties and rugby matches I have over the next month, I am allowing myself one naughty day a week!

I'm going to review my progress at the end of the month. My beautiful daughter turns 1 at the end of May and I want to look fabulous. I haven't started to contemplate what I'll do if my 'mummy tummy' is still here. Keep going with the 'diet'? Cry? Accept defeat?

In the meantime, I'm going to really try hard to watch what I'm eating and keep up with the exercise. And I won't make the mistake of not looking closely in the mirror before I leave the house again.

Is rugby a sport for girls?

At the tender age of four, my daughter has been convinced by my husband that she should play rugby. I'm not impressed! Although I agree that she probably would be great at it - she's very fast, has lots of energy and stamina and is pretty fearless. But that's not the point. She's a girl, with a cute, pretty face. What if she gets cuts and bruises? Or even worse, a broken nose? Or cauliflowever ears? I'm not alone in my fear. Most mums I've spoken to feel exactly the same way.
My son frequently returns from rugby with tales of how someone stood on his head and often has bumps and bruises. Fortunately he's never been seriously injured. Although even at his age there have been some serious injuries. One boy was airlifted off the pitch at a recent mini rugby festival, after landing awkwardly on the hard ground. But even though there is a risk of serious injury, and I occasionally worry that it is him lying on the ground, not moving, I am fine with my son playing rugby. It is something that boys do. A sport for 'real' boys and men.
Perhaps that's were my objections really lie. It's a masculine sport, not very ladylike. Maybe I'm just trying to encourage my little girl to be a princess for the rest of her life, focusing on ballet and gymnastics. But steering clear of sports viewed as masculine.
I shouldn't really be surprised that my daughter wants to play rugby. My husband (an ex-professional) and son are rugby-mad. They are constantly practicing in the garden and it is frequently on the television.
I, too, am not free of blame. As a youngster I was very sporty and when I went to university I was keen to continue my main passion, athletics. Unfortunately there wasn't the opportunity for me to do so. Despite my attempts to train, following a personalised programme written by my dedicated athletics coach, it wasn't much fun training by myself. Gradually I let it slide and my fitness levels fell too. So I looked for another sport which I could do. I never liked netball - I didn't like the restrictions imposed. Hockey wasn't for me either. I had played at school but found I was constantly injuring my ankles.
One day I found myself pondering whether to try out rugby. Rugby was an important sport at my university and I found myself signing up to it. In hindsight, I must have been mad. I didn't consider the possibility of injury at all. To be honest, I'm a bit of a girlie girl when it comes to pain and injury. And after a number of hard tackles and finger sprains, I lost interest. Indeed the only part I really enjoyed was the fitness - I loved both the long run at the beginning and the sprint training. Mostly as I like winning and found that I was fitter than the rest of the girls!
I think my daughter is a lot braver than me. But maybe I should share my injuries with her as a warning ...