I’m 43 and a mom of toddlers. They motivate me to stay active.

• I waited until later to have kids, and I thought it would mean slowing down.
• Instead, I feel more active as an older mom than before having kids.
• We're always moving our bodies and it makes me feel younger.

I never felt ready to have a baby. I kept pushing it to later in life, even though I met my husband when I was 31. I was 38 when I had my first child and 40 when I had my second child. I'm 43, but I feel younger because my kids have brought more movement to my life.

I didn't expect to feel this way as an older mom. I had thought I'd have less energy and struggle to keep up with my kids' activity needs. Instead, I often feel invigorated from moving my body all the time. However, the start of my motherhood journey wasn't like this at all.

My energy levels were low for the first few years of being a mom

It took a full year to recover from having my first child. Just as I had started to feel like myself again, I fell pregnant with my second. I had expected things to slow down, but I was kept busy chasing after my energetic toddler.

Once I had two kids under 2, I was exhausted all the time. Regardless of my age, it was a very busy and demanding time in my life.

Thankfully, I reached a turning point when my youngest turned 1. She was starting to walk, so I always had to be on my feet because of her newfound freedom.

We're always moving our bodies

I've always been very active, but mothering two young kids has taken it to the next level. My daughters, aged 2 and 4, are driven by an endless impulse to move. They're always trying to master new movements: My 2-year-old has just learnt to jump, and my 4-year-old is learning to ride a bike.

Through them, I now have a greater appreciation of the joy of movement. I feel like I'm undoing years of being taught that movement had to be done in a particular way. I've also stopped worrying about how I look when I move my body.

Incorporating more movement into each day has been an unexpected gift of becoming a stay-at-home mom. Since leaving full time employment, I no longer get tight hip flexors and lower back pain from sitting for extended periods. I've swapped short, intense bursts of exercise at the gym for an almost constant state of motion.

My kids and I walk, run, hop, and skip through our days together. My heart rate increases by chasing after them, especially when they run off in different directions. We wiggle our bodies to music, do yoga poses together, and challenge each other with obstacle courses.

It's not all play, though. I'm also kept active from continuously tending to my kids' needs and doing household tasks like cooking, cleaning, and running errands.

I feel tired toward the end of each day, but my kids usually have even more energy. They run around being silly ,and sometimes I'll join in. It's hard not to feel younger when I do the things that I used to do as a kid.

They motivate me to stay active

I like being active most days, but I also enjoy my downtime. I cherish relaxing in the evenings after my kids go to bed to prepare my body for the next day's adventures.

As an older mom, I'm both excited and nervous about the future. I'm curious to see how our movement changes over time when they're at school and I'm working full-time. But I'm also worried that one day I won't have the energy to keep up with them.

Because of this concern, I feel motivated to stay active and look after my mobility for my kids. In our moments of shared movement, everything feels right. I'm determined to hold onto that feeling for as long as possible.