So, I found out tonight that my SIL and her fiance are splitting up. They have been together for roughly 14 years. It made DH and I have a conversation about our own relationship. We have been married for 8 years, together for 10. He asked me if there were things I would change about our relationship. One thing I mentioned was that I wished we could exercise together. Pre kids, we used to run together-in fact, we met in a running club. Anyone else have anything they would change about their relationship, or do differently? I think with work and kids, our marital relationship takes a back burner. I KNOW he would like more frequent,ah, intimacy!!

I guess it is all about keeping that fire between you burning through the years of raising kids, then when the kids are gone you still have that relationship. Friends of ours (their kids are the same ages as ours, good friends and neighbors) just got divorced. This was a real wake up call for me. My friend said they made the mistake of focusing too much on the kids and not enough on their relationship. It is hard sometimes, though, especially when the kids are young, to do this! But it is so important. The best thing you, as a parent, can do for your children is to have a strong marriage, and this means being selfish at times and making sure you and your husband come first. Now that our boys are a little older (12 and 9) we are doing this more. I guess our relationship has changed through the years, he was only 19 and I was 20 when we met, just kids!

Great post. Honestly, I wish we could take more vacations. And I wish I could cook for him more.

Oh, to have time and money again...

That's actually one thing I've been missing ever since the 23rd weeks of this pregnancy (I'm 35 weeks now) -- running as a family (him, me, and the golden retriever). I'll be an intermittent participant for at least a year postpartum, too, because I'll be a 3rd year and I'll have to be at work super-early.

How big would you say the age gap is between when they stop fitting in the jogging stroller and when they start being old enough to leave at home for 30 minutes while both parents go running? Have you had any ideas for making it work?

To answer the main question, though, we used to go out swing dancing or playing volleyball before I was pregnant. I suspect both of those things will be hard to pick back up again. Vacations would be nice, too, wouldn't they?

I'm already worried about paying too little attention to him just being a medical student (I'm not the swiftest one out there, so I study a lot.)

I would love to work out with my hubby but we still go separately (kids in third and sixth grade). Even this is hard to fit into our schedule! Someday we will enjoy working out together again.
Actually what we have stared do as a family is ski! We used to enjoy this together, now we go as a family! We just got back from a ski vacation, skied 8 hours a day for three days straight! The kids love it! It is great to have a physical activity we can all do together and enjoy.
I have to admit, though, it was hard to work out at all when the kids were little. Things are soooo much easier now.

the bob revolution i have is rated for kids up to 70 lbs. i don't know what kind of fifth grader would want to ride in a stroller though. . .

Not sure-I don't use a jogger anymore-once they get to a certain weight it is hard to push!!! My oldest is 6 and nowhere near being able to be left home alone. I suspect the age gap is about 9-10 years, depending on when your toddler wants out of the jogger and when you feel comfortable leaving them alone. I run alot on our treadmill in the basement. When the baby was little she sat in the pack and play and watched me. The problem is the toddler age b/c they don't know not to touch the machine. Luckily I have an older child who can help. I leave them upstairs in front of the TV for 1/2 hour with doors open so I can hear while I am in the basement and my oldest knows to come get me if there is an issue. The baby is gated in to that one childproofed room so I know she can't get hurt, nor can she do damage. She is 20 months. I come up every 10 min or so to check on all of them. Honestly though, horrible as it is, once Mickey is on TV, the baby sits on the couch and watches!! If my older one isn't home I gate off the treadmill and the baby comes downstairs with me and plays while I run. If I want to run outside DH watches them.

KPZR-I hear you about the skiing-took my oldest today to Mt. Wachusett (we live 8 min from there ) and I am taking the middle one next week. Hopefully next year we can go as a foursome if we have a sitter for the baby...looking forward to family times like those!

Probably not past 4-5 years old but by then they can ride their bike while you jog maybe? Or you all can start biking together with the kid in tow (with something like this) or eventually their own bike.

What I used to do was run while my boys rode their bikes! I would purposely leave my bike home so I would be running to keep up with them! Once they ditched their training wheels they would be impatiently waiting for me at every corner because they were so fast. Now, they are old enough for me to leave them alone for brief periods. I go running in the neighborhood while they are watching tv. I leave my cell phone number on a sticky in the kitchen. When I get home they have not missed me one bit because they got to watch tv longer than usual...