Stop and look at the roses, the grass, & the gum on the sidewalk..

The theme of today's post is slowing things down. Taking my time is something that I struggle with, just ask anyone who knows me (including my boss!) I like to move fast, work fast, drink fast and talk fast. That's just my natural tendency, but it isn't always a good thing, so I'm trying to take a minute and slow the heck down.

I am finding that my need to rush is negatively impacting the kids. We are always running so as not to be late. Rushing to school, rushing home, rushing from one activity to another, I simply try and do too much.

admiring the animals

Now that my sweet Julian has rejected his stroller, I am actually forced to adjust to a new slower pace. Turns out that 1.5 year olds just don't move that fast...at all. We walk Zachary to school every morning, it's a short pleasant walk, only a few blocks. In the past we have taken that journey at a break-neck pace as we ran to avoid a tardy slip. No longer. I am now leaving the house a good 15 minutes earlier so that Julian may walk, and we all can enjoy the stroll. Julian is pretty darn adorable. He takes so much pride in walking on his own. He squirms and struggles as I carry him across the busy streets, and smiles brightly once I put him down on his own two feet. He looks at everything, I mean everything. Flowers, trees, dirt, dogs, garbage,  bugs, cars and old gum stuck to the sidewalk. "What's this?" he asks each time he spots something new.  The older boys have been quiet supportive of their baby brother's new accomplishments and have even held his hands as he crossed the less traveled side streets in the neighborhood.

silly faces on the train

I'm also trying to carve out more time for just plain play and fun. Fridays I have off and I typically pack our mornings with errands and play dates, but today I decided to take Evan and Julian on a leisurely visit to the zoo. They loved it. I loved it. We spent our time at each animal, noticing their long necks, funny tails and big butts. We rode the train and had a picnic lunch. It was good old-fashioned QUALITY time.

Finally, I'm slowing my running pace a bit. I have been hovering at 8 min/50 sec miles, and it's just too darn fast for long distance. Today I slowed my pace to just over 9 minutes, I can't say I had much choice, the afternoon sun was warm and I felt like I was going to vomit most of the time. I'm going to stick to morning runs from now on, and work on keeping my pace more moderate.

So there you have it folks. Stopping to smell the roses, and their smelling lovely.