Walking

Anyone that has had to go anywhere with the CHF knows that she's very, how do I put this in a kind way....Princess like. She loves to be carried. This may be a chicken/egg debate but I'm not sure if she's just this way or we've created her love of being carried because she's small and often it was just faster to get to where we were going by carrying her. She's always preferred to be carried over being in a stroller or actually, GOD FORBID using her own legs to transport herself from one location to the next.

Around the CHF's 4th birthday, we did the unthinkable....we got rid of the strollers (mind you we did not do the unimaginable and get rid of the Ergo the most amazing child carrier on the face of the earth....www.ergobaby.com). One stroller had been in our possession since Monkey was 6 months old. The tires were free of any semblance of tread, the canvas was very weathered, the 2X4 piece of fabric formerly known as the arm strap hung sadly from the side of the handle and the straps to secure the child inside slowly disintegrated over time and the microscopic bits can be found somewhere between our house and Main Street (no that's not Main Street that the Presidential candidates are so fond of referring to when trying to connect with the middle class, it's literal, I live in a town with a Main Street). The other stroller was a purchase that I'd made when the CHF was still in an infant car seat and it allowed me to remove the infant seat from the car and snap it into the stroller without disturbing her highness. We never really liked that stroller but every now and then the princess would request transportation in said vehicle (I think just for the sheer pleasure of watching us struggle to get it on and off sidewalks). Although not as old, it too was weathered and not worthy of passing on to another family, we dumped them both.

I discussed with the CHF that she was now 4 which qualified her as a big girl (despite still being <30lbs). I went further to tell her that 4 year olds are big enough to walk to school and that I would no longer carry her to school, hers or her brother's, in the a.m. We were very optimistic that first morning as we set out to walk Monkey to school. The optimism was gone by the time we got 5 postage stamp sized houses from ours, that's when the whining began. Now, admittedly it could be because the 5th house from ours belongs to MZ, the best cook/baker on the street and perhaps in our city. Usually walking by her house elicits a Pavlovian response in both children and they are both suddenly hungry so whining occassionally happens in that location anyway. An arguement between the CHF and I ensued and it went something like this:

Me: "CHF dear you have to walk to school, it's not far and you're a big girl now"
CHF: "I'm tired, my legs hurt, my legs are chilly, I'm tripping because my legs are tired, I'm going to fall...." (at that point I tuned out)
Me: "Get up now or you will be left behind"
CHF: "ok, I'll wait right here for you"
Me (to myself): "SH*t, she'll will too"

As it turns out, I'm far more interested in getting Monkey to school on time than proving a point to the CHF. She won, I carried her. Over the past month, I've been working on getting her to walk to Monkey's school and then to her own school. I've had to listen to the whining and complaining on most days but I've been fairly successful in getting her to walk most of the way. Today I had the luxury of going in to work early, dear hubby took the kids to school.

I got a call 6 minutes after Monkey started school. I picked up the phone to hear dear hubby laughing a full belly laugh. After he was able to catch his breath for a moment or two, he shared the following with me...

After carrying the CHF to Monkey's school on his shoulders (he does this all the time for her, she just has to use her really cute voice and she's hoisted up like the princess she is). He indicated to her that it was time for her to walk and put her down. Of course she clung to him like a booger does to a child's finger right before they eat it. He tried to pry her off of him but said that it was as though rigor mortis had set in. He looked down at her and said something to the effect of "Your not going to walk are you", she looked at him with her big brown eyes and crazy curly hair and said with a perfected warble in her voice "i'm not really in a walkin' mood today, daddy!"