Walking With Sunshine

Dinah and I went walking yesterday morning. Amelia was up early and did not want to be left behind. I was concerned that she would grow tired and want to turn home. I detailed the plan for the walk, with emphasis on the fact that it would be long. She was not deterred. She wanted to go too. She decided to bring her scooter.


I did not keep my usual pace but we were moving steadily at first. Dinah looked at everything around her and kicked her legs happily in her stroller. Amelia talked and talked and talked as she scooted along side us. She barely paused for breath. I was unable to even answer most of her rapid fire questions before she had moved on to the next one. At one point she noticed a bud in my ear and asked, "Are you listening to music?" in an accusatory tone that insinuated that I had not been listening to her. I let her know that it was turned down low and that I only had one in so that I could listen to her. That seemed to be an satisfactory explaination because she resumed her recitation where she left off.

At the halfway mark she asked why her side hurt. I explained that she probably had a cramp. I asked her if she wanted to rest or for me to call her daddy, but she was determined to continue. She was a trooper and she almost made it the entire way. With a quarter of a mile left she allowed her daddy to come pick her up at the "shortcut". Even as she walked up the hill with Daddy on her road and I on the other side of the trees on my road, she talked until she could not see me through the branches. I smiled the entire way home.

Even though I did not sustain my target heart rate for more than a minute at a time, I think the walk was good for me. My heart will last years longer from hearing that sweet little girl say, "I love spending time walking with you, Mommy. This has been the best walk ever!"