A Walk, Some Grapes and a Pink Flower

Among the first words out of Dan's mouth this morning were something to the effect of, "Ella, if you get dressed and put your running shoes and socks on, you can go for a run with Mommy!"  It might have been 7am.  I had just woken up to the sounds of a child in our room and hadn't even taken my first steps of the day yet.  I hadn't even yet decided if I would be running today - after yesterday's miserable run in the heat, the thought of running what would surely end up being my same route in the suffocating heat again made me cringe.

"Okay!" Ella responded, and proceeded to hunt down her shoes and socks for this supposed run that was moving quickly into my near future.  The only thing I had going for me at this point was the faint hope that Ella would remember that she doesn't like socks... or running shoes because we insist she wear them with socks, and then change her mind and decide to play on the playset in our backyard instead.

It was just yesterday that, after a summer of not wearing socks or running shoes, Ella put them on.  We had just finished that miserable run, she wearing flip flops and sitting in the BOB stroller and me pushing her as I ran, and she wanted to run herself.  "If you want to run, you need to put your socks and running shoes on," I reminded her, certain she wouldn't.  If I had a nickel for every time I said those words to her in response to the same question only to see her choose another activity over running, I'd be rich... or, at least, be wearing a new pair of shoes.  Ella simply doesn't like socks.

But yesterday, she didn't mind them.  She darted off to get them without a fight the moment I told her she needed them and returned with her shoes and socks in her hand.  "Can you help me put these on... PLEASE?"  Ella is practicing using the word, "please" and overdoes it at times.

So I did help her and the next thing I knew we were running down our street, the two of us.  Wait, it was the three of us.  I was pushing Ella's baby in the BOB stroller.  Ella probably ran a tenth or two of a mile before she stopped to walk, and then we walk-ran the rest of the way, in all maybe a half mile.

Later, the boys joined us for a walk-run around the block after dinner, Ella, again, wearing her running shoes and socks.

I don't think I'll ever turn down a run with my kid(s), at least not as long as I'm able to run with them.  That Ella was all about a run first thing this morning (albeit, completely inspired by Dan) actually made me smile... inside... deep inside... hidden behind my stiff, sore morning feet, my memory of yesterday's hot, miserable run and a desire to stay in the comforts of my jammies and the air conditioning and drink a nice cup of coffee.  I had to get up and run with this kid, so I got myself dressed for a run and made my way downstairs.

A lot of things happened before we actually got out for our run.  First, I ate a bowl of cereal (I didn't know how long we'd be gone, so I figured this was a good idea).  Second, we had to get the stroller out and Ella's baby situated in it.  By "we" I mean I got the stroller out and Ella got Baby situated in it.  This takes time as there's much twisting and tangling of the harness until Baby's situated in it safely (i.e. to Ella's liking).  Third, we got distracted by the Burley bike trailer my friend, Jen, had lent us the day before.  We had to put it together, attach it to my bike and then give it a test ride, which Ella chose over a run.  Fourth, it rained, only as Ella sat in the Burley for our test ride, so we needed time to recover physically and mentally from that.  Fifth, we were visited by our neighbors.  Lastly, Cal wanted to join us when Ella and I announced we'd finally be going for our run, not that he was actually dressed and ready for it.  He has his own share of sock issues, and we had to battle through those before we'd actually hit the pavement.

Our run ended up being a long walk around the neighborhood.  Cal decided he wanted to sit in the BOB stroller, so Baby was relegated to the basket underneath.  Ella and I tag-teamed the pushing of Cal in the stroller, I held the right side of the handle, and she held the left.  We walked down Whitehall and Lindsay to Sudbury and back to Skylane.  We headed toward Boddington and then walked its entirety so we could walk past Aparna's house.  We headed back down Skylane. We talked the whole time, and I don't really even remember about what.  I do remember that there were no mean words said, no scolding needed, no teasing and no fighting.  It was a wonderful non-run, all of us in our running shoes.

As we walked back down Skylane toward home, I made eye contact with an older man tending to his garden in his backyard.  "Hi," he said.

"Hi," I said back. 

"Would you like some grapes?" he asked.

"No, thank you," I replied.  I didn't know the man or what was in his garden, and my stranger-danger instinct was kicking in despite all indications he was very nice. 

"Are you sure?" he asked.

At this point, Cal and Ella were aware of my conversation, so I asked them, "do you want some grapes?"

"I want some grapes!" Cal responded.

"Okay, we'll try some grapes," I told the man.

He clipped a couple of bunches and brought them over to us, warning us that they were not seedless as he did so.  "They're not quite ripe," he also told us.

The three of us each pulled a couple of grapes off of the bunch and ate them.  The were still a little sour but had a very grapey taste to them, similar to the grape juice from concentrate sitting in our fridge.

"These are good," I told him.  "Thank you."

"Would you like a flower from my garden?" the man asked, directing his question to Ella.

"Yes," Ella said shyly.

The man turned, headed in to his garden and re-emerged with a pink flower in his hand.  "Here you go," he said, handing the pink flower to Ella.

"Thank you," she said.

"Have a nice day," the man said and started to turn back to his garden.

"You have a nice day, too," I told him.  We started back on our way home, Cal in the stroller and Ella and I pushing him from behind.  Cal held the grapes in his lap and ate a few more; Ella contentedly held the pink flower in her right hand as she pushed the stroller with the left.  And I was smiling, genuinely happy with my run-turned-walk with my kids in their running shoes and socks.