A Walk to Remember

Today dawned lovely and sunny, whereas it was supposed to be wet and gloomy. The oldest two were home from school today, and I figured it was time to enjoy the gorgeous weather, PLUS finally do some homeschooling with J, so of course I announced a... Nature Walk. My oldest two are onto me, so they didn't get too excited, while J bounced off to find a binder to carry his Spring Scavenger Hunt form from this website, (which I found thanks to Emily.)Little M raced off to find his bike helmet, I grabbed the overdue video to return at the corner store about 15 minutes away, plus the two dogs, and we were off. Ok, not exactly... Two the of the kids toodled back inside to go to the bathroom, another declared he was thirsty, and the youngest fell over on his bike and started yowling, while the big pup got ahold of our old dog's leash and started trying to yank the poor. arthritic canine around the yard. When we got everything calmed down, someone asked if they could go inside for some of their Easter eggs, so that got everyone going again. By the time we were at the top of the driveway, I was already contemplating leaving our super strong, lunging pup at home. This started a chorus of the kids telling me the I had his harness on wrong, but there was disagreement amongst the ranks about which way the trainer said it should go (I should have gone to that session, I guess). So, that was followed by a certain, frazzle haired red head trying to hug a leaping black lab in order to adjust his halter in a few different ways, only to finally have the group finally agree that it was on properly in the FIRST place. We made it off our property, even down a couple of driveways, before J dutifully spotted a blossom tree and sat down to record it on his paper. This would have been lovely, except that Wilson the dancing dog didn't want to stop to observe nature, Little M was weaving around on his bike, and of course, a truck comes along our quiet road and needs to back up in precisely the spot that J had sat down to observe, just as the old dog decides to "break loose" from my daughter and add to the situation by sauntered at the speed of snail in front of the motor vehicle. No big deal, except that Wilson was seriously trying the patient that I don't even have in my possession anymore. Again, I considered asking my daughter to take him back home, but she was already ahead, doing the tween saunter, pretending to not know us. Well, we made it to the curve of the road, the spot where it turns into a steep down hill section, so I gave Wilson to K, and took over helping Little M on his bike. While K's slight form was being dragged down the hill by the pup, who was straining at his leash. K called to me that the trainer (I am starting to not like her) said that he shouldn't be walking Wilson, to which I sweetly call back as I a jogged, bent over, holding onto the back of Little M's seat, "I realize that , but right now I am trying to keep M from flying down the hill into traffic at the bottom!" By the time we got to the bottom, and turned the corner and started up hill, our walk had already taken 20 minutes instead of 5, which translated that the remaining 15 minutes to the store would take about 45 minutes, and that was only one way. After scolding the kids twice because we were 5 people and two dogs going in opposite directions whenever a vehicle came along, we reached the top of the hill, with Little M sobbing that he was he was scared on his bike, my tween grumping at the geriatric dog because he decided to just STOP instead of move, while I still fought against my sore ribs as I taught Wilson to "heel". We came to a fork in the road. Left was the store, a fabulous trail to explore ponds, frogs, and nature galore, while straight, was HOME. I did what any smart mother would do- went straight. Even better, we cut through a neighbours yard to avoid yet another hill. They were in their yard, saw the still unreturned video in my hands, and offered to return it for me, while they went off on a nice peaceful walk, just the two of them. Their kids are grown and they no longer have walks like the one I just had- but they no longer have kids playing hockey in the yard, making bows and arrows, playing hide and seek, catch, tag, etc. I know they miss it, cause they tell me. So, I will savour the moment, the crying, the arguing, the excitement, the old dog's stubbornness, etc, cause I KNOW I will be sad when these days are over. I will not miss the dog training, though.