Let’s be honest. Sometimes taking your kids for a walk, hike or bike ride is really painful. You start out thinking this is going to be great! Quality family time, here we come. Then at least one of the gang stops 6 feet in for a rest. It is a lot like the road trip’s “are we there yet.”
I am not sure if it is simply that the kids’ getting older or post pandemic willingness, but things seem to be going a little better on our excursions lately. Maybe my outlook was the one to improve. Today we really had a great hike. While there were a few requests for rest stops, it was reasonable. I actually tried to talk about pacing yourself when you go for a hike and how that applies to life. I am not sure if the kids heard it but I took my own advice and really enjoyed the hike today. I finally slowed down my brain and tried to be in the moment. In doing so, I got to show my kids the Jack-in-the-pulpit that littered the forest floor. My daughter and I enjoyed taking pictures. It reminded me of my dad who always loved this particular spring decoration and sharing all the beautiful plants that grew in the spring in summer.
Sometimes, I find that the frenzied “we must get exercise” mentality turns everything into a sprint and the joy of the activity gets overshadowed by how fast or how far you have gone. Admittedly, I am definitely needing more exercise after a very sedentary pandemic with much of school at home, but I want to see it in a different light. Not as a chore but putting the things I enjoy to do back into the calendar. Growing up, my parents were not runners but extremely active. I think that my dad actually loved the fence line checking hikes which brought him back to his family’s outings in the woods up on Henderson Road.
John and I used to love to run. We are not typical builds for running but none the less, we really enjoyed 5ks around Boston in our pre-kids life. I had a ton of fun when we scored numbers for the Falmouth Road Race and was really pleased to complete a half-marathon in New Hampshire. With kids, Lyme and life in general, running took a back seat. But I have always loved hiking, too. It seems to be something with a little less of a ticking clock and flexible options according to ages and abilities. It may be a genetic thing from the Tyrolean roots of the Maino side of the family.
Another pandemic plus was getting the kids to ride bikes. I am really excited that they now are really enjoying hiking and biking. Their interest in biking has actually encouraged me to get my old bike back in action. After a mountain bike accident and clavicle repair over 20 years ago, that sad bike sat idle for quite a while. While I much prefer the closed bike trails over roads (I continue to be a more nervous cyclist), I am really enjoying getting my bike back on the path again. I received an “old lady” seat for Christmas. Now all tuned up, it lets me cruise in comfort. With the kids, we have gotten to travel around to some really fantastic bike trails in Massachusetts and New York, all within an hour to an hour and a half drive.
I have a new friend and fellow Beautycounter consultant that has said the one non-negotiable every day is her workout. I love that mindset. It is a really healthy perspective to have a non-negotiable. It may look very different for everyone. It may be taking your dog for a walk, yoga, journaling, gardening or meditating. Carving out that time for the things that keep me mentally and physically healthy is something I am trying to do as the post pandemic calendar is starting to fill in.
Here are some of the Jack-In-The-Pulpit (Triphyllum) that we found…
