Okay, my recent posts on this blog and elsewhere have been a bit serious, so today we are all going to just have a little fun.

We moms often spend much of our afternoons and evenings behind the wheel of our mini-van, schlepping kids from one activity to another. We call it “running” errands but it’s not exactly an aerobic activity. When do moms get out and play?
Some moms like to have ladies night out, to go out to dinner or whatever. Or gather, as my neighbors and I will this Friday, for Bunco–an absolutely mindless game that is just an excuse to get together and eat and drink and socialize. It’s great fun. But I’m talking actually playing, the kind of play that requires athletic shoes.
In my book Breathe, I suggest to moms that if their kid “does” sports, that mom should too. If Junior is in three sports and mom is in zero, something’s out of whack. (hint—it’s probably our priorities) Why should we sit around and get flabby while our kids increase their fitness? More importantly, why should the kids have all the fun?
Take my friend Jo, who has five kids. All of the kids participate in one or two sports, which makes for some interesting weekends—back to back games are pretty normal for them.
Jo’s always been fit—she’s a runner and works out. But in the past few years she’s discovered the fun of playing on a team herself, so she plays soccer with other adults. Last spring, while playing on a co-ed team, she broke her wrist. This has not slowed her down. In fact, she’s also been training for a half marathon, which she will run this weekend. (Thankfully, the marathon starts early in the morning so she’ll be done in time to make it to some of her kids’ many games that day!)
Other moms I know also play soccer, or tennis. Or they jog, bike, swim. Exercise is essential at any age—it makes us look younger, indeed, some studies say, it slows the aging process. It gives us more energy, and boosts our metabolism (and I don’t know about you but my metabolism seemed to grind to a halt when I turned 43!)
Yes, exercise is all good. But if it’s just another item on our to-do list, it gets boring. More important than exercise, I think, is play.
I’ve always been athletic, and exercise has almost always been a part of my life. I say almost because I’ve had seasons of life where I abandoned it. I gained weight, but worse, my attitude toward life in general slumped. Exercise provides endorphins, a.k.a happy hormones. We’ve got enough trouble with hormones at this age, we need to seek out and encourage the ones that make us feel good.

A few years ago, looking for a way to get some exercise and socialize at the same time, I picked up tennis.

I love tennis. What a great sport. It is a great workout, and if you play on a team, it is a fun way to connect with other people who share your passion. It’s not hard to pick up the basics, but you will never totally master it—you can always improve. It’s not as frustrating as golf and you can actually break a sweat playing it. It’s a workout that makes you run, uses your arms, helps your balance.
Now, like anything, we women can get weird about tennis. I know women who play four or five times a week and are always worried about whether they’ll get to play court one or be on the more competitive team, etc.
I admit, I used to get caught up in that. But lately, I’ve realized that tennis is a way to simply have fun (one of the benefits of midlife is better perspective on what really is important). And they are not paying me to play (in fact, the cash is flowing in the opposite direction). There is no chance you’ll see me at the U.S. Open, unless it’s in the stands, ever.

This summer, I played with some awesome ladies–here we are at a lunch celebrating the end of the season. And I’m on a great team this year with some more cool ladies. It’s a travel team, so we go to other Chicago area clubs and compete. Since I work alone, tennis provides not only exercise but a chance to socialize, to connect with other women who realize how sweet it is to sweat.

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