Put It There

When Grace was tiny, we had the luxury of lugging her around in her car seat/baby carrier. It was great. Just pop it out of the car, plop it on the shopping cart, and off we went. Of course this grew tedious as the child grew increasingly heavy but the convenience of it all was wonderful. Then she outgrew her seat and we had to get a new one. The "convertible seats" as they're called, do not snap into a base making it necessary to awaken your very happy slumbering child so you can quickly run into Target. Grace is now a big kid--she's up to 27 pounds and lugging her here, there, and everywhere has given me an abnormally strong left bicep. It occurred to me recently that Grace could probably hold my hand as we scurry around running our errands. And so we've embarked on something new. . .

Grace thinks she's the cat's pajamas when she struts through the parking lot holding my hand. She now refuses to be held and demands to walk By and large she understands that she must hold hands in a parking lot. She generally slips her little hand into mine and then stomps away as we head to the store. The look on her face is priceless. She just smiles ear to ear knowing she's a big girl.

But all this walking has made our Grace despise her stroller. Hey, why ride when you can walk? Everyone else is walking, I'd like to walk too. This has made trips to the mall very, very difficult, We're fine in the open, strolling areas but if we go into a store it's a disaster. She grabs entire racks of clothes, pulls tags off of merchandise, and makes a raucous if she won't hold my hand. Oy. . . . But what has been very cool about all this walking, is just that, we can take walks together. Generally it takes a half an hour to get around the block. There's lots of interesting stuff to stop and see. Acorns, pebbles in the sidewalk, sticks (man she loves sticks!), an airplane flying overhead, cars going by, squirrels, a dog barking, trees, leaves. . . . .We don't set out to cover distance, but rather exploration is the theme.

Today we walked to the Little Gym for her class. I had to allow about 20 minutes for the walk which would take an average adult five. About midway through, after examining some acorns, she reached up and grabbed my hand. She tugged so I looked down and Grace gave me this big goofy smile and wrapped herself around my legs in a hug. It was as if he was saying, "Thanks mom. This is so cool." Sometimes I get frustrated that she won't walk a little faster. I think, "Does she HAVE to stop and look at every acorn? Why does she think there's a dog behind every fence? What's so interesting about that tree anyway?" I forget that this stuff is all new to her and as much as I want to go somewhere, she's taking the world in for the first time so of course it's fascinating! She reached up and grabbed my hand and we were on our way again with her happily stomping away next to me. At that moment I was truck by one of my favorite Paul McCartney songs, "Put It There." You may not of heard of it. It's definitely not one they play on the radio much but it always made me pause even before Grace. The refrain goes like this, "Put There If It Weighs A Ton, That's What The Father Said To His Younger Son. I Don't Care If It Weighs A Ton, As Long As You And I Are Here, Put It There." I love holding Grace's hand and I'm counting these moments because I know the time is not long ahead when she she'll scoff at hand holding. So for now, I wrap my big hand around her tiny fingers both to protect her and to affirm for myself that she's still little.