Walkin and Talkin

I decided on Monday that it would be nice for my son and I to start walking together in the mornings. I definitely could use the exercise, he could too. Plus, I thought, it would be a good mother-son thing; get outside together, a chance to talk if we want, to laugh and tease a bit, to work off some energy, connect, and for him to get some of that much needed one-on-one. I asked him last night if he thought he'd like to do that, explaining that it meant getting up earlier than usual (around 6:30 instead of 7). I was surprised at how excited he was to do it. He couldn't wait until morning to get started.
So, my alarm blared out my wake-up siren at 6:17 this morning and with my eyes glued shut I dribbled to the floor and headed to the bathroom to look at my scary face in the mirror. Part of me was saying, "Oh my God, what are you thinking? Are you nuts? You look like hell, go back to bed." The other part was saying, "Oh shut up. You look like hell but you KNOW you'll feel better when you get outside and get going. You KNOW you'll feel great all day for doing this. You KNOW how excited your son is, so you can't back out now. Now GO!!"
So, I walked to my son's room where he was already up and getting dressed - beaming. Who wakes up like that?
We got ourselves looking all exercisey and put together (as if we're pros at this whole healthy exercise for "fun" thing) and headed outside.
Whoa. Cool. I was immediately taken by the outdoors. My negative half disappeared, or blended with the positive, or just decided to shut up because...well...because just get a load of the world this morning. It was warm, around 45, and the sun was just rising so the sky was pink and orange and yellow and purple and red. But the most amazing thing was the air. It was dewy-damp, comfortable, and the smell...mmmm, like summer. It smelled like summer. In fact, those were the first words out of my son's mouth, "Whooaa, it smells like summer out here!"
And not just summer, a fire too. Someone, at 6:35 am, already had a fire going in their house. Imagine...two of the best smells in the world: the first smell of spring and a fire in the fireplace AT THE SAME TIME. It was so great.
Anyway, I laid down some ground rules for our walks:
1. We walk together. You stay next to me and don't go running ahead or get all distracted and fall behind. I'm not doing this to walk alone - I like your company.
2. We aren't in a race. We don't need to walk so fast that we're panting like dogs.
3. Move your arms a little. I know it's chilly but if you walk like a plank like you are now you'll pull a muscle or something. Relax and walk.
4. Oh, and one more thing...no scuffing your feet. Pick 'em up.
We had a great time. All 15 minutes of it. We walked, we talked, we teased, we laughed, we looked in shop windows (quickly) and we basically forgot we were exercising. We walked into town and down Main Street and looped back home. I was surprised it only took us 15 minutes.
When we got back, we were ready for the day. We had lots of energy. He was far more focused than he usually is in the morning. He got ready for school quickly, ate a good breakfast and he and his sister were out waiting for the bus 15 minutes early. No herding them to the door, no pushing and prodding and nagging. They even had time to ride their bikes back and forth to the corner a bunch of times.
What a great way to start the day.