Stop and smell the...anything

Lately, Emily has taken an interest in the idea of walking to and from school.  I'm not really sure why.  We live a few miles from either her school or her daycare and a majority of our route is lacking sidewalks so we never see other people walking during our daily commutes. But hey, there's an obesity issue in America and my kid wants to try to walk two miles every day, I'll take it!  We agreed I'd park a block further from her day care every afternoon so she could become accustomed to walking the required distance.

Amongst my friends and family it is a well-known and undisputed fact that I walk fast. Really fast. All the time. Emily, however, did not inherit my sense of urgency and generally takes her sweet time getting from Point A to Point B. What she did inherit is a sharp eye for anything shiny, green, containing moving parts or otherwise able to completely distract from the task at hand. This means my poor kid hears the phrase "hurry up" pronounced through gritted teeth any time we have to move more than five feet. It seems a little unfair to expect a five-and-a-half year old to  "hurry up" for half a mile (the distance we've worked up to). So I'm breathing through the pain of taking life at Em's pace because look at all I've been missing!

Besides enjoying the beautiful spring weather, there are several varieties of ivy to examine.

Four leaf clovers to hunt.

Weathered picket fences.

Cloud-filled depths to ponder.

Fine, world. You win. I'll try to walk at a human pace every once in a while.