Two weeks ago my husband needed to borrow my car and asked if I could walk to pick up my 5 year old from Kindergarten. Of course I said what any good wife would say “why can’t you pick him up?!” After a dirty look and a few choice words I agreed and hesitantly made the long trek out of my comfort zone and to his school.
Now I am ashamed to admit that I have become somewhat of a couch potato. My day consist of a little cleaning with plenty of computer time topped with a ton of TV. Because of my dependency on the TV and computer my back side has also unfortunately started to spread and there is a permanent indentation of my body shape made into my over sized chair. For this reason the thought of an hour long walk, even to pick up my darling son, and was almost unthinkable.
With little bit of resentment towards my husband’s lack of understanding my couch potato-ism disease I slowly began my walk. The first 10 minutes I kept envisioning in my mind what would happen if no one showed up at the school to pick up my baby and how long it would take for someone to find my lifeless body on the side of the horse trail caused by actually walking.
After I got over the initial shock of the blood flow to my brain I started into a good steady pace. For the first time in months I was breathing fresh air and my body and mind really thrived on it. I had 30 minutes to really think, alone with no kids, no noise, no TV, no computer, just me and my thoughts. I daydreamed about what my life would be like if I won the lottery and what it would be like to live in the mountains away from the world. I enjoyed the warm sun on my hair and the cool breeze on my face. In just 30 minutes I was feeling refreshed and energized. When I arrived at the school I wasn’t ready for the walk to be over so soon.
On the walk back I was worried if my 5 year old would be able to make the trip home? Would we both succumb to the elements of the outdoors and lack of exercise? After a few minutes on the trail my son, with his brilliant imagination, turned to me and said “mommy do you see that?” Having no clue I asked “no, what do you see?” He began to point out, in great detail, that we were in the jungle and he could see apes and lions hiding in the bushes. He said we needed to be ninja’s and protect ourselves from bad guys. (Yeah, I know Ninja’s in the jungle? Well, he’s 5 LOL) After scoping out the perfect stick that could be the perfect ninja sword we spent the next 30 minutes alone fighting wild animals. It was an amazing journey and I’m glad to say, with the help of my little ninja, we made it out alive.
It’s been two weeks since my husband first asked if I could walk to pick up our son from school and I’ve been walking ever since. I’ve now even added walking him to school a couple days a week as well. I now cherish my alone time and look forward to getting off the couch and out of the house. My son also looks forward to exploring the world and looking for new adventures. It’s our special time that we share together, just the two of us and every day it’s a new journey.
I am now happy to say that I am thankful that my hubby forced me to be a “walking mom” and I wouldn’t trade in my walking shoes for my slippers ever again.
