Mental toughness training

I mentioned in a previous post that being tired from a workout is not an excuse to not spend quality time with my wife and daughter.  We all know that after a really hard workout, we just want to lie down and sleep to recover and heal our tired body.

I guess my workout doesn't end in the road or the pool.  When I'm back at home, I still have to exercise extreme  will power and mental toughness to force myself to stay awake watching reruns of Dora the Explorer with my daughter.

But then it really isn't difficult staying awake and hearing my daughter shout "ba-pack" together with Dora when Dora calls her to "Say backpack" and when she dances the "We did it!" song together with Dora.

It is images of these that I continually play in my mind to give me the strength to finish strong.

But then I still sympathize with Mitchell Pritchett of "The Modern Family" series whose daughter is equally entranced by Dora.  One of my favorite "mean" lines is:

"As much as I love Lily, which you know, more than life itself, I am, whoooo, not cut out to be   a stay-at-home dad.  But it's Cameron's turn.  It's Cameron's turn to be out in the world, interacting with other grown ups, while I get to stay at home and plot the death of Dora the Explorer... Fill her backpack with bricks and throw her into the Candy Cane River"   :-)