a peek inside the fishbowl

Something Sarah did the other day got me thinking about our daily walk to school.

I’m grateful we don’t have to do the schoolbus thing, like many parents do.  Mark walks Emma to school in the morning. I walk Sarah to school in the afternoon, and at the end of the school day I walk back to pick them up and we all walk home. That’s a lot of walking, isn’t it?

Sometimes we scooter, or bike, but mostly, we walk. The girls are very good walkers. They’ve had little choice in the matter!  Mummy has a long stride. I do try to slow it down a little, but I’m a naturally fast walker.

Emma is a smidge better at keeping a pace. Personally, I think it’s because she’s been out of the stroller for so long. Sarah was born when Emma was 23 months old, and we never bought a second stroller for Emma to use. She’s got stamina that kid.

So the other day Sarah decided that she wanted to draw a chalk line all the way from our house to the school.

“Great idea!” I said, silently dreading the 45 minutes it was going to take to do this. (Hey, even I have my limits.) “But it might take too long. Instead, why don’t you draw a chalk mark on the sidewalk every 20 steps you take?”

And so, with all the diligence of a six-year old, she did it. She drew little yellow lines right up to her classroom door (which is outside).  I think there might have been 60 or 70 altogether.

I realized, after following the chalk marks back home again, that we’ve been doing things like this for years. These little games make our walks more fun, and as a side-benefit they also make the girls walk a little faster too.

I’m a stickler for punctuality. I think it’s critical to teach kids to be on time. If you say you’re going to be somewhere at a certain time, you’ve got to be there. Especially school. If school starts at nine, you can’t be straggling in late. What message is that sending to the teacher, and to  the other students?

They’re going to need a good sense of time for their whole lives. So the question remains, how do we get them moving?

These are the little “tricks” I’ve used in the past to help my kids walk a little quicker so we can get to where we want to go and make it (more or less!) on time:

1) Catch the butterfly. It’s so simple and silly. This worked when they were about 2, and it still works. I must have discovered this game by accident. It’s so silly I can’t believe it. Basically, I wave my hand over their heads, just slightly out of their reach, pretending it’s a butterfly. They run along, trying to catch it. From time to time the butterfly will land on their heads to kiss their cheeks and nibble on earwax snacks.

2) Pretend you’re the big bad wolf and chase them down the street. Works every time.

3) Make a trail. Like the chalk-drawing idea above, but we’ve also done it with the crusts of stale bread. And here’s the question you want to ask yourselves, will it be there when school is over? This is a bonus because it gets them there AND home quickly.

4) The destination tease. Make a mental note of cool things along your route. Use it later. i.e. “Hey, let’s go see if the bird nest is still there!” This has worked using a beetle infestation, construction, and amazing flowerbeds in the spring. This is especially effective around Halloween when there are fun decorations to be seen.

5) Foot hockey. Kick a rock or piece of ice while walking. Take turns with your kid. Sometimes the simple things work best.

6) Let the kids pick the route, and lead the way home.

7) Never underestimate the power of the march and the marching song. Why do you think the military has been doing this for so long? It keeps the troops in line and moving! Our faves include the bear song (it’s an echo/repeater)  and the goat song (although I see now there’s a variety of lyrics for that one: ) But my personal favourite is this one.Heh. What would the neighbors think if we sang this ? (Turn up your volume what the hell, Phyllis Diller???) OMG – what about this? (I’m still snickering re: that last one)

8) Perhaps the best (and quietest) idea is to hold your child’s hand and just talk. You might be surprised how quickly times flies.

Do you walk to school with your kids? Any other tips to share?