My walking buddy

Lately Agent P has not wanted to go walking with me.  He tells me "I'll  just stay here." Which would be fine if he were older, but he's two.  He can't stay home by himself.  So for the past week or so, I've come up with a plan to get him to go walking.

I promise him a stop at the park when we're almost done.  

There is a park about a half mile from our house, so I worked out a big 2.2 mile loop to the park, and if he behaves during that loop, we get to stop at the park and slide and swing and play.

It's not a big park, but Agent P thinks it is super awesome getting to go there.  And I get my exercise and he gets some too when we get there.

We'll usually play for about half an hour, and then I tell him it's time to go home.

After all that climbing, he never wants to get back in the stroller and ride.  So I let him walk beside me while I push the stroller.  We go a lot slower, but it keeps my son happy.  And that keeps me happy.

But I think his favorite part of the walk is when we get back to our court.  Then he gets a turn to push the stroller.

He'll push it all the way down the street to our house and he's always so proud of himself afterwards.  I love that I have an opportunity for special moments with my boy.  In changing up our walking plan, he's taught me to slow down and enjoy the morning.  On the first part of the walk, I always rush, trying to be speedy and improve my fitness.

But on the second part of our walk, Agent P and I talk about all the things we see.  Ducks, dogs, flowers, cars, clouds, trees.  We even spent some time yesterday talking about our health and how walking helped us to "get strong."

I love those peaceful, slow walks with my son.