International Walk to School Day!

What a picture perfect day we had for this year's International Walk to School Day! Though, we live so close to my daughter's elementary school (Belle View Elementary), and we really should be able to walk, it still requires a lot of planning, organization and good moods to pull it off. Since I'm an organizer and I am a proponent of doing everything that can possibly be done for the next day, the night before, there should be plenty of time in the morning to make walking to school a reality. However, what ends up happening is time evaporates in the morning and most mornings we are just making it out the door in time to get to school by driving.

So, it was a big deal for us to walk on Wednesday. Though we had prepared and the lunch was made, outfit laid out, hair style determined the night before, backpack packed the night before with everything except the lunch, I didn't account for a semi grumpy daughter, and a leisurely 6 year-old's pace. At a couple different points I had to cajole her to gallop like a pony, skip and race me so that we made it there in time. Who greeted us, but the school's P.E. teacher who was giving out stickers to all the children who walked. It still amazes me how much weight a sticker can carry. She was so proud of it and at dinner last night she said she wanted to walk to school everyday to collect the stickers. Who knew!

I wish that could happen so that we could both fit in exercise early in the day to get the endorphins working, help air quality and the environment by not driving, not have to deal with the Kiss and Ride line and just have some fun time together. I've realized due to logistics of my choppy work schedule, and another child who needs to take a bus to his school, we can't walk every day, but maybe shooting for once a week can be a start. And, guess what, the plan tomorrow is we are walking to school!