Earlier this month, I had my last walk to elementary school with my eleven-year-old son. As we walked, I told him some of the favorite memories I had walking with him (or taking him along when I walked his older siblings to school). Like the time he slid out the front of the stroller and I ran him over and then walked on him. Or the time he ran ahead of me and peed off the curb into the middle of a busy street, right in front of a police officer. Most of all, I'll remember that our mile walk to and from school gave us a chance to talk and laugh and teach and learn and solve problems. It was a time that I wasn't harping on him about chores or homework or nagging him about some other now-meaningless thing. It was an opportunity I gladly made time for each day that helped strengthen my relationship with this sweet, sweet boy.
I hope one day my son will look back and remember that, even though life was busy and his mom made tons of mistakes, she loved him enough to carve out an hour of quality time with him each day on our walks. I hope he realizes that those walks alone were worth the sacrifices we made for me to be a stay-at-home mom. I hope he remembers that even as a mature sixth-grader, he missed me on the rare occasions I couldn't walk and always asked "Mom, will you please walk with us tomorrow?" And I hope one day he realizes that sometimes that very question was the one thing that kept me going, knowing that my kids not only needed me but wanted me, too.
Kimberly
