Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2-2015

Abstract

When she pulled herself out of the ’80s to pump up her exercise plan, she learned that her fitness is not about anyone else but her.

I was that woman in your fitness class this morning. I couldn’t hear the instructions over the music. I bumbled the steps. I jogged in place during the jumping jacks for fear I’d pee my pants. I came a few minutes early to get a spot in the back and then flushed with self-consciousness when, with a twist and a jump, the instructor reversed the entire class and I found myself at the front.

Same health club, a few weeks earlier. Across the gym, in a wall-sized mirror, I saw a woman who seemed to have stepped right out of 1989. This must have been the high-watermark of her fitness attire, and she was sticking with it. Blousy, elastic-waisted, sky blue shorts, a hot pink tank top with white flecks where the stretchiness used to be, and tennis shoes that were on clearance at the big box store several years ago...

Comments

For more on work-life balance, visit workingmother.com

Originally published as:

Paris, Jenell. “Working (Out) Mothering,” Working Mother Magazine, February 2015.

Download

Share

COinS