A Long Walk - Quack!

This morning, I tried a morning outing in order to tire Alex out pre-nap. I overshot what his energy level could handle. I wound up taking him to the pond park at Mamaroneck Station, but we walked the entire way. A walk that usually takes me about 15 minutes wound up taking over an hour because of all of Alex's stops. Nine out of ten of those stops were usually an attempt to walk into someone's house, garden or up their driveway.  By the time we were two blocks away from the park, Alex was stumbling when he tried to walk. It was only just after noon at the time. He's never tired at noon any longer!

Being only two blocks away, I decided to keep going towards the pond, but the station parking lot was too big an attraction. As we passed parked cars, Alex tried to to enter the larger parking lot along its side and I'd have to yank him back. Then he'd resist by falling on the ground, which resulted in my picking him up and walking past the next car, which led him to try to wiggle out of my arms saying "Down! Down" and I'd put him down and we'd start all over with the next two cars.

When we finally got to the bridge over the pond, we stopped and it took him a while to even notice the pond below. Some more nudging away from an open divider wall and into the park to see some goslings in the grass. He couldn't even see them. (He didn't know what to look for). A few pictures and a few struggled steps towards the pond - all the while pulling him back from the bridge - and a man in the park asked me if I had the time. It was 25 minutes past noon.

It had taken nearly 25 minutes to walk two blocks and get past the parking lot.  Ooops! I guess I underestimated just how long this would take. I realized that we couldn't stay in the park for very long if I wanted Alex home for a 1 PM nap. I also realized that there was no way in hell I'd make it home by 1 PM if I let Alex walk it all. I'd have to carry Alex the way home if I wanted to make it back by shortly after 1.  Oh dear.

I guess no nap is happening after all.

May 21, 2009