Yesterday morning, the whole family walked to Beth's kinder. I wanted to time the journey so that when I do the school run, I'll know what time to leave the house.
I had intended to buffer for 1 hour, meaning we would have to leave at 7.30 am to get Beth to school by 8.30. Surprisingly, the walk took just 20 minutes at a leisurely pace, with Jordanne napping contentedly in her stroller, Beth stopping for water breaks, and Mum trailing behind admiring the houses in the neighbourhood.
It was Beth's first 20-minute continuous walk and she was so exhausted she begged to be carried on the way home.
It was also my first postpartum exercise session, and I could feel my abdomen aching and dragging me down. Suffice to say I have a long way to go to regain my pre-pregnancy fitness (which wasn't great to begin with).
Today, we were able to trim the walk to 15 minutes. Along the way, we met a young man petting his dog outside his home. "Good morning! Lovely day, isn't it?" he called. We returned his cheery greeting and I remember thinking to myself, this [spontaneity] is another reason I love the life here.
As was the case yesterday, Beth complained she was hungry - just after we'd walked past her kinder. We stopped at the fish 'n' chip shop, but the owner was just rolling up the shutters, so we went next door where I waited to have my hair cut by the pretty young platinum blonde Vietnamese stylist. She lives 30 mins away in Sydenham and has been in Oz for the past 15 years. Her dad runs the bottle shop next to the hair salon.
I reckon we'll all benefit from these daily walks: Beth will build up her stamina and leg muscles and hopefully stop falling so much, I will get the exercise I need, and Jordanne will enjoy the fresh air and the soothing motion of her stroller.
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