Usually when I take my daily run/ walk, I go alone. I walk to the end of the driveway, then start running down my street and about eight blocks until I exit my neighborhood. By then, I'm ready for a break, so I walk a little bit and then start running again. By this time, I'm half way to the library. The whole trip takes me about 30 minutes tops.
But today was different. Today I brought the kids, and today it was a walk...the whole way. We left the driveway. Ricky was in the stroller and Vicente was running ahead. As we left, I warned him, "Don't run so much. You're going to be tired, and you won't be able to walk all the way there." But of course he's a five-year-old boy and believing his mother is not at the top of his list. He continued to run ahead, then run back, and to play a game of dodge the stroller as he ran toward Ricky and me, every single time.
So, by the time we had walked five blocks and were just past his elementary school, Vicente whined, "I'm thirsty. Can I have the water?" I guess I must be known to my children as the water bearer, because if there is one thing I never fail to do, it's to carry water everywhere I go. I always have my bottle with me. In the car. On the way to the park. As I ride my bike. But not today. (I left my water bottle in my friend's car last week.)
"I told you not to run so much. I don't have water with me." My tone was one of frustration but I'm sure it came across to him as one of annoyance with him, when I was actually annoyed with myself that I had forgotten water. Because of my lack of planning, I would have to listen to him go on and on for the next four to five blocks. And that he did. He acted like he couldn't go on. He slowed down, he threw his head back, he acted as if he was near fainting, huffing and gagging and scuffing his feet along. THIRST leaked out of his every pore.
We mothers all know when drama is about to blow up in our faces. Vicente could potentially have a fit at any moment and ruin our trip if I didn't handle this correctly. So I dialed my husband who I thought was nearby. "Talk to your dad," I said, passing my son the phone.
When he didn't answer, I called him back again. He didn't have any water, he wasn't nearby, and he proceeded to lecture me about not taking the kids because we had to walk next to a busy street for a few blocks. He always says he doesn't trust drivers and is afraid they'll drive up onto the sidewalk and kill us all. I'm sure that paranoia comes from growing up in Mexico and seeing so much death and lack of value for human life. I get it, but all the same I think he's crazy and if I listen to him we really won't get to live our lives to the fullest and get to do some of the fun things we want to do. So I hung up the phone, rolled my eyes, and we walked on.
As we continued on, I reassured Vicente over and over that water was near. We were now only a couple of blocks away from quenching our thirst. But it was taking so LONG. We were just turning and walking next to the busy street, and it had taken us at least 15 minutes. Usually, this takes me about five.
We plodded on and on, and we were finally near Subway when we saw the Family Dollar. We parked the stroller and went inside. They only had huge bottles of water, so Vicente chose vitamin water and Ricky a Coke. Ricky also wanted chips, but I said no because we were going to eat at a Chinese restaurant that I wanted to try on the way. We left the Family Dollar and now both kids were walking and I was pushing the stroller. Ten minutes later, we were finally at the restaurant. We ordered one plate for us all, and Vicente decided when the food came, he wasn't even hungry. He had been so thirsty, he finished the water off in less than five minutes.
We had left the house at 1:00. Finally, at 3:00, we reached the library. I couldn't fathom how a 30 minute trip could take two hours. But, I guess that's life with kids for you.
Once in the library, Vicente and Ricky fought over a book and I had to threaten to take away the play station for the second time in two days. But the kids did calm down, we checked out books, and luckily my husband came to pick us up in the van. It would not have been fun to have walked back home.
What a long, tiring walk. Why do we parents do these things anyway?
My answer came over dinner when Ricky looked up at me and said in his own excited little way, "Mom, I had fun today at the library." Now I understood. It didn't matter to him that it was a long way there. The trip made my favorite three-year-old's day. And Ricky's proud smile was the only reassurance I needed to know that the long library trip was 100% worth the trouble.
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