No joke, I do whatever I can to walk in LA. Luckily (and intentionally) we live in an area that affords us the ability to walk to grocery stores, restaurants, shops, swim lessons, etc. So many times Kaare and I settle in to our small couch after the kids go to bed in their shared room and one of us asks, ‘shooooould we move to a different area where we might be able to afford more space?’ and then we think about commuting in Los Angeles and we’re like, HELL no, you can wheel our dead bodies out of this cute little house with a high walk-score!
Because I walk everywhere, my kids walk everywhere. How? They complain a little. They get used to it though. I think ultimately, it strengthens our relationship. At age 4, Harlowe would walk a mile with me home from preschool. Since I was on maternity leave, I walked everywhere trying to soothe Gunnar and lose the baby weight. I walked with Gunnar in the stroller and Harlowe and I had some of our best chats on those walks. One day she asked me if I knew there was a drum in my ear. It was hilariously cute.
As Gunnar began to walk, he no longer tolerated his stroller. I had to get creative. I got a ride-on car (which he loves) but now that he’s 2.5 he needs to burn more energy so we got this SuperMOPI and it’s been broadly appreciated by every one of us. It’s easy to balance on — he rides a balance bike so I wasn’t worried about that. It’s a lot more stable than a balance bike and a lot slower so it’s great for walks. The bike is really better for fun times in a contained, traffic-free area. I’m fond of the fact that this motorcycle, as he calls it, is absurdly light so I can easily carry it when necessary. You know you’re always ending up carrying these things, mamas!
^Such a happy guy!
^Bad ass coming through.
*This Bike was provided by superMOPI, but this post was not required. Thank you for reading and supporting Bethanimalprint..and less traffic in LA! 🙂