Toddlers in a gym

The sign outside the gym door says that children are not allowed inside. But I pretend I cannot read English when I hit my proximity card key fob on the gym door to allow me in. Why? Because I have no other choice but to ignore this particular sign. 

When my husband is at work, there is no one at home I can leave my toddler with. But does that mean I cannot workout out every day or at least a few times a week? Won't that be unfair to a full-time mum who wishes to stay fit and healthy? Well, I certainly think it will be. 

I have never noticed if there are hidden close circuit TV cameras inside the gym, but even if there are, the property managers either does not monitor them regularly, or pretend to ignore the presence of a two-year-old visitor inside their gym. Kindhearted people, I must admit. 

My toddler, however, is not nearly as kindhearted as the property managers. She does not care to show compassion to my poor nerves. So, no matter how much I ask her to sit quietly with a book or a plaything on the gym floor, she will try to climb a stationary bike or sit on a leg abductor machine. 

From the treadmill, I have to turn my neck every 10 seconds to check if she is doing something that is potentially dangerous. Looking back every few seconds not only kills the rhythm of my running, but carries the risk of me losing my balance on a running treadmill. But I am brave - mums of little children have to be brave all the time. We can take risks in the blink of an eye, small and big alike.

I have finally started hitting the gym after two years and I am so proud of it, but a few weeks ago when I was running on a treadmill and patting myself on my back with an imaginary hand for the wonderful job that I was doing, my daughter pushed the gym's Swiss ball against the treadmill. 

For a second I thought I would fly out of the machine. But I somehow managed to grab one of the safety handles with one hand and press the STOP button with another. If I were a second late, I believe I would have stumbled on the running area and lost a tooth or two. 

Half of the air-filled exercise ball went under the machine and I burnt 15 calories just to pull it out from under it. But that incident assured me of one thing that there are probably no CCTV cameras inside the gym!

Being a mum is like being a student - you learn and experience brand new things every day, things you perhaps never thought you would experience. And you are right, it's the baby who is the teacher. She is strict and compassionless and she teaches you everything the hard way! 

By Wara Karim