The Walk

I’m not usually one for making New Year’s Resolutions, but I find myself breaking with tradition.  This year I have made it my mission to walk the kids to school as often as possible.  I’ve written before about the scale of this challenge – it is epic, which makes it all the more enticing. 

Of course, when I set myself this challenge I didn’t factor in the added stress of bikes, scooters and roller skates… which my children obviously want to bring along, which means that they can’t carry their own book bags, lunchboxes and water bottles, which means that I have to carry it all whilst using my wheelchair as a makeshift Zimmer frame. 

And so, we set off – My eldest cycling confidently off into the distance, my ‘middlest’ skating unsteadily along beside us, my youngest refusing to walk and so sitting smugly in the wheelchair, and me looking and feeling like a hobbit on my way to Mordor.

We made it safely through The Shire with only a few roller skate wobbles that nearly ended in a grazed knee.  We made it through The Misty Mountains, although by this time my feet were really dragging, and my posture was becoming more and more stooped with every step.  We were overtaken by several Orcs, who thankfully left us alone, despite straining their heads around to have a good gawp.  And finally, we made it to Mordor, where I kissed my precious load goodbye and collapsed blissfully into my wheelchair before retracing my steps back to The Shire.

The good thing about the return journey is that I can alternate between walking and wheeling – this way my arms and legs both get a workout and a rest.  I am honestly so proud of myself for walking my kids to school!

I do, however, have a worrying habit of getting a tad carried away with things.  This morning, as I was lying down to recover from the journey, I was aimlessly scrolling through Facebook and came across this ad:

How Facebook knows about my renewed passion for ‘walking’, I don’t know, but the timing couldn’t have been better. 

Now, where did I put my hiking boots…