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Stretching the Truth

P1: So after submitting my first two papers for my Theories of Personality course, my professor emailed me to ask if I "Really had a PhD?". Excuse me? I told him that I absolutely did, that it was from the University of Toronto and I completed it in 2005. He apologized and explained that he had to ask because, (1)he's taught almost 7,000 students and I'm only the second PhD he's ever taught (thanks for rubbing in the fact that most people with a doctorate don't need to get another Masters degree to forward their career in the desired direction!), and (2) because if I don't actually have a PhD, it's unethical to say that I do. Duh? I was pretty insulted. What kind of person does he think I am? I would never misrepresent myself that way. In fact, from what I've learned in his course, only someone with a serious personality disorder would do such a thing!

P2: On the other hand, I am surprised by how often as a parent you do have to lie to your children. "We have to leave the park now, it's closing." "No, you can't watch tv, there are no shows on right now, there won't be anymore on until tomorrow morning." "Yes, I'm going to bed just as soon as you get into yours." "You won't like these cookies, they are extremely spicy." Recently Adam told Big A that her chocolate bunny that my mother bought her, which Adam ate, went "bad" and had to be thrown away.

But already at the tender age of almost 4, Big A has learned how to lie too. She is always telling us she has washed her hands after going to the bathroom, when we know she has not. And last night, she claimed she didn't need to finish her broccoli because she already had a lot of broccoli at daycare that day. When I asked her if I could confirm this with her teacher today, she backed down and finished her broccoli. Hmm...

F1: Apparently some food/entertaining experts suggest that you try to pass off store bought items to your guests as homemade...personally I think you risk making a fool of yourself if they call your bluff.

F2: Lately I've been craving yoga. I used to do it at least once a week until I got pregnant with Big A. I have maybe done it 2-3 times since then. But my treadmill hill walks make my hamstrings and glutes really tight and I feel like I never have more than a few minutes after my morning workouts to stretch before one of the girls is up. I'm thinking that once I have child care for Little A - starting in 2 weeks - I may try to fit in a class once a week when I can.

On the topic of stretching, I thought I would share some tips.

1. Always stretch the muscles you have worked at the END of each workout.

2.You should not do static stretching until the end of your workout. A proper warm up for cardio exercise should by "dynamic". So in other words, if you are going for a jog, start by walking and gradually pick up your pace. Or if you are on the stairclimber, start at a lower level and slowly pick up the intensity after a few minutes.

3. You only need to hold a stretch for about 30 seconds to restore length to muscles after a workout, but if you are trying to increase flexibility, that's when you need to hold stretches for a longer period, as you would in a yoga class.

4. Strength training does not inhibit flexibility.

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