She Started Walking, Reluctantly!

Yes, I am talking about my 4-year-old daughter. Listen to me, it will all make sense to you.

Last year this time, Sienna was just over 3 years old. She was still on stroller everywhere we went throughout the summer. I don't complain. I never encountered the problem of having to grab a toddler on a supermarket aisle. Once I ran into a couple who spoke my hometown dialect. The man commented to the woman, in my face, having no idea that I would ever understand him, "still being rolled around, a big girl like that!?" Then came the summer, nobody really walk, right?

The milestone came last week. All of a sudden, the temperature went from minus degrees to above 10. There just aren't many days in a year where you could actually walk outside without feeling too cold or too hot. I feel being spoiled without knowing by whom and how. I got Sienna back to the backyard. I even took her for a walk as well. First she was surprised that I didn't take the car. I said to her, "This is a WALK. You are too big for a stroller now. I absolutely CANNOT carry you under any circumstances. When you are tired, tell mommy, we turn around right away. We will have to cover the same amount distance before getting home. " We made it to a public school yard, where Sienna is supposed to go if she changes to public system. It's 7-mins away from our house. We did a few playground things. Coming back was a nightmare. Her bottom line was that she wanted to be carried. My bottom line was of course that I insisted on not doing it. I am pretty sure some neighbours must have peeked from the windows to see the scene. We finally dragged each other home. I applauded her, hugged her, kissed her and gave her high 5. Big noise to congratulate her for walking that 15 minutes, all on her own foot. I also cheered myself quietly inside for not giving in.

Last night, I had a bigger plan. I was taking her to the train station, about 13 minutes walk if you take it slowly. She was very excited because last summer, for a month, I took her by train to go downtown and left her with a daycare for the day. Dad dropped up off and picked up us, of course. She loved to see the tracks, the bridge and the green/white train. Off we went, learning from our walking experience and eager to see the station, no complaints along the way. Coming back was a slightly different story. So I provided my lap as her resting bench. She sat for a few times. We sang songs, playing a game where I made mistakes and she corrected me. I also invented the kicking game. Towards the end, we by turn kicked a little tree branch on the side walk to bring it to our front door.

I don't blame her. I am not a walker myself. If I could find a shortcut, I wouldn't even walk the subway platform every morning from the east end to west. But she is such a joy to walk with. She is not the trooper type running ahead and looking aimlessly. She would stop me when she sees a van backing out the driveway quite a few yards away. She spotted the first few purple wild flowers on a lawn. She picked up a light yellow bouncing ball. She noticed a block of the side walk was messy covered from caterpillars poop from the tree. She was wondering what that blue plastic strip was for. She even found a shinning silver nickel on the grey cement ground... In any case, my daughter started walking, at her own pace.