About four months ago, I started a class at Hunts for women with babies aged 12 weeks to 12 months. One of my super talented clientele designed a flyer which still makes my heart skip a beat, and I did the rounds of Maternal Child Health Centres, doling out my gorgeous red, black and white message of fitness.

When Miss M was small, I couldn’t find anything catering to mothers of young children that wasn’t totally depressing. I dropped out of my mother’s group after two visits, wondering why I felt like such an outsider. I knew we all had little kids, and obviously they were important, but the other women seemed to have lost their identities and couldn’t even get one sentence out without mentioning a rushed visit to the Children’s Hospital in response to a runny nose, or presenting an itemised list of nappy rash creams, rated according to price and effectiveness.

My idea was to provide a place where women didn’t have to worry about finding childcare, and could still be grownups, doing something positive for themselves - like reclaiming their bodies, recharging their energy, and just breathing deeply for forty five minutes. There’s no pressure to perform - if it’s too hard, you can rest. If it’s too easy, there’s always a way to make it harder.

At the moment the class is small. Like a business genius, I chose to start it in winter, and each Thursday at 10.15am, without fail, it would be pouring rain. At the gym you can always tell what the weather’s like just by how many people are there - and when it’s raining, the gym ain’t pumping. So coming out with a little child is a big ask - and my three stalwart attendees managed it every week, and have all signed up for the next rotation of classes.

One thing I wasn’t prepared for is how much I enjoy hanging out with those kids each week. I have no desire to have another child, but William, Beatrice and Olivia are all such gorgeous little people, I can’t help but love them. Watching them learn to sit up, grow teeth, and find their voices is awesome - and I think they like me too. Olivia spent most of yesterday’s class laughing at me, but maybe she just thinks I’m nuts. Beatrice, who’s the youngest by about three months, used to hate being on the floor, so I’d hold her while demonstrating exercises - a challenge in itself. Now she’s far more independent and doesn’t need me anymore, which is kind of sad. Still, she can join in with Olivia, and laugh at my antics, and I get the best interaction of all, which is to hand the sweet things back at the end of the class, and go home to my own big grown up girl.

Today I’m loving: my tattoo - even more than yesterday. And my gorgeous friend Leisa, the queen of technological info.

If you’d like to see the flyer for my class, click on the link below.

The Super Fabulous Flyer