The day I had no car

We had car troubles and I couldn’t send Kate to school. I asked her to wait for her cousin to pick her up to go to school together.

“No mum, let’s walk to school!” she said excitedly.

So off we left at 7.45am with me dragging my feet. What an irony.

I was half prepared for her to complain that she was tired or ask for rest stops along the way. The last time we walked out to take a bus was a year ago, and it took us a good hour to reach the bus stop!

Surprisingly though, it turned out to be a really pleasant morning stroll. She was in such high spirits and pointed out lots of interesting things along the way.

Kate: Mummy! Look at that! Is THAT a dinosaur print?
Me: Do you think it is? How big were dinosaurs?
Kate: Really big!
Me: So could that be a dino footprint?
Kate: No. What is it?
Me: It’s the footprint of a… *suspense*
Bird!
Her eyes were glistening, as though I had pulled a bird out of a hat.
Kate: Yes!! It is! It is!

And the questions came fast and furious.

“How did the footprint get into the ground?”

“Why did the bird fly down? Was it looking for food?”

She was so absorbed in the moment, marvelling at the discoveries around her.

Ah, what it’s like to be a child, with the gift of wonder.

Hearing her questions made me smile. I did not give her answers but guided her and gave her space to arrive at her own conclusions.

I love her thinking mind and hope that her curiosity never gets dampened.

Best view up front

Even though it was a long walk out, she was hopping and skipping and enjoying herself. Her cheer was infectious and it lifted my mood. Instead of trying to hurry her and deposit her off in school so that I could head in to work, I decided to enjoy the time with her.

A mindset shift from this is wasting my time, I have so much on my to-do list to being present to her and enjoying the morning made me feel much better.

Oh well, I could change my plans and work from home.

When we finally reached the bus stop, I told her we were going to take the bus to school as it was still a really long way away and she was overjoyed. To her, it was more interesting than being in a car.

After dropping her off at school, I made my way home and found #1 in the kitchen trying a healthy recipe my friend had just taught her.

Just mash some ripe bananas, crack an egg in, and stir in flaxseed meal. Viola, healthy homemade pancakes.

Yummiest strange looking pancakes