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*When you wake up in the morning, I will be a mouse. I just wanted to tell you now so you won't be scared.*

Smallsteps is thoughtful like that.

It was my turn to put her to bed and I giver her options for the pre-sleep entertainment - a book, a story or a poem. When it comes to the story, I let her choose characters and basic plot if she chooses and I turn it into something. Last night she surprised me as she wanted it to not only be about a dragon that breathes fire, but the dragon was able to turn into a princess. Now, I don't think this is a particularly unique plot twist for a story, but coming from my daughter who hasn't seen a movie or read a book about any kind of shapeshifting, I was impressed. 

And, the story I told was pretty good and even had some moralistic elements included that she was discussing with me during the story and then brought it back into the discussion today as we were driving around shopping. My wife is always a bit surprised at the stories I tell and the things we end up discussing, but I think it helps my daughter observe her world in a more unique way to others, which might make her a little weird and different, but that also opens up the potential for creativity and competitive advantage. 

I am one of the lucky parents who not only love my child, but also like her, as she is clever and funny, cheeky and more and more each day - sarcastic. Conversations with her are delightful, which is good that I think so, as I will be spending the entire week with her since she is home from daycare and my wife is working. So, we will have to entertain ourselves.
 

![OI001004.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/tarazkp/q4wM9x14-OI001004.jpg)

Below, is the first picture of her playing in her new room, which isn't ready, but the floor is dry enough for her light little feet to play on. We found some balloons, so she has been pretty excitedly hitting and kicking them around the house. My first three thousand steps of the morning were in the loungeroom trying to keep a pink balloon from touching the floor, as well as a host of other rules that came into play, including designated zones that indicated which one of us would be obligated to get the balloon from.   

![IMG_20201227_111725.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/tarazkp/jqc00Svt-IMG_20201227_111725.jpg)

But, while I will be looking after her and keeping her busy, we also have a few  things to do around the house this week, including hanging some shelving in the wardrobe area of the master bedroom and, drilling in the brackets to hold Smallsteps' fitness rings in her room. She has patiently waited *a year* for them and we finally got her a set for Christmas and she has again patiently (but excitedly) waited for me to install them. I told her we can do it together. 

*I really hope she can handle the power drill*

I am not exactly sure how we are going to install them yet, but I will be drilling them into the wooden beam that holds up the roof, which I am told is plenty strong enough to hold several times my own weight with ease. This makes my Christmas belly less of an issue. I don't want to have to be doing this again though, so I will get s some advice from the hardware store and maybe back it up with some internet searches. 

While she is looking forward to the rings, so am I. With all the gyms closed and me barely going anyway, I think I will start doing some workouts using the rings and my ample bodyweight at home. I think it'll be fun as well for Smallsteps, who enjoys our stretching sessions as well. My legs have been a bit of an issue after the floor painting a few weeks ago and still haven't recovered, so I have to do a bit of self-imposed rehab. 

*Getting old sucks.* But, I want to be able to play around with my daughter for many years to come and if I don't start taking better care of myself, that will be limited to watching TV. The other thing is that I want to set a good example for her or at least, have her understand that looking after herself is in her best interest and she shouldn't take her body for granted. I know that when I was young I did, but when I became very ill and degraded rapidly over the space of a few months, I realized how much losing mobility changes life.

Today while we were out shopping, I was looking at the people as they passed by and I am constantly surprised at how "large" children are these days. Kids under ten years of age with beer bellies is normal, but really, really shouldn't be. This isn't about body shaming, as it really isn't their fault, it is their parent's. Overweight children is something that should never be normalized in society in my opinion and I am yet to get a definitive answer on where the line of child abuse comes into it. While not yet as bad as the [American statistics of childhood obesity,](https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/childhood.html) which is considered in epidemic proportions, much of the world is seemingly rapidly catching up. 

While setting the habits young doesn't guarantee health as an adult, it does increase the odds of being healthier, plus there will be the understanding and feeling of the shift as fat increases. If that has always been the baseline feeling, it is easy to not recognize the worsening of conditions over time. As said, when I was young my body degraded so fast I could feel the difference day by day and I haven't lived without pain for almost 30 years, but I do still remember being "pain-free" when I woke up prior and I do miss it.

Anyway, I think the new year is coming and with 2020 being a clusterfuck of a year for the most part, I will have to set one of my new year's resolutions for improving my own well-being. Even though it is unlikely I will ever be entirely without pain, I do believe that I still have a few years left in me yet and I want to spend some of that time swinging from the roof like a monkey, or perhaps, crawling on the floor like mouse, if that is what my daughter wants to do. 

While getting old does suck, getting old while being in bad condition has got to suck more.  

Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]



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