We get a *golden* autumn here in Calgary - not very many orange or red leaves, mostly yellow.
I remember as a child walking to and from school, zig-zagging across the sidewalk to crunch all the leaves I could under my feet. I pulled this memory out of my head in a moment of need last week. I had my minivan in the garage getting a repair (a new window washer fluid tank) and when the van was ready to be picked up I decided the best way to do it (with Ken not home) was to walk Carmen to her activity at the church and then walk the rest of the way to Canadian Tire to pick up my car. This was not a good plan. Carmen isn't a happy walker/hiker, and I should have remembered that from the school walk-a-thon in the spring, but I didn't. My memory was refreshed as we walked along to the church. It's about 1 1/2 kilometres, really not too far on a beautiful day, but Carmen was starting to lag behind me and whine. Luckily, my love of crunching leaves under my feet saved me from nagging at her. I told her (in a playful way) that I planned on crushing every dry leaf on my side of the sidewalk all the way to the church, and she could have the leaves on her side of the sidewalk if she kept up, but if she didn't keep up I was going to crush ALL the leaves. That was all she needed - a distraction. She happily walked with me, occasionally fighting me for a leaf in the middle of the sidewalk, the rest of the way without another complaint.
I should really remember to turn everything into a game. More fun for me, more fun for the kids. Much better than nagging.
My favorite way to welcome fall is to walk in the leaves!
^
17 comments:
What a wonderful walk you had with your daughter. Love the yellows. I am enjoying the change in season here in Utah. What fun game to play. My children love to crunch leaves also. Rake them up and jump in them is more or less is their version of crunching leaves.
What a fun incentive, Barb. What a good mom to pull that one out of the memory.
I CANNOT believe you chose to walk that far! I can just see Carmen's face when you gave her the distraction and the fights over the leaves:-)
Ooooohhhhh, I love crunch leaves. This pulls up a really strong memory of fall in Montana and walking to school. I love golden autumns.
You have no idea how frustrating it is to have someone as beautiful as you as a sister. Such a pretty picture!
Fun memories.
Not much color change here. We usually do get a lot of red and oranges though when it finally happens! -carlo
I love crunching through leaves, too. When I was in kindergarten we lived in an older tree-lined neighborhood, and I have distinct memories of crunching leaves on the way to and from school. Great that you knew just the trick to turn Carmen's angst into a game!
I loved that post. I want to play your leaf crunching game!
I'm envying your golden autumn crunch. Beauty!
Very cute self-portrait Barb, the golden colors of Calgary are lovely. You sound like such a fun mom. I love it when a grumbling situation turns into a fun one.
A golden autumn. How beautiful. This is the only time I miss the mainland is when everyone is posting about fall. Winter I don't miss a bit' but Fall.
sounds like a great use of a great memory. definitely a great mom tool!
the golden fall looks beautiful in your photo. so do you!
It's so true about turning things into games - it works much better. I think I like crunching in leaves more than my girls, so hopefully some day they'll have the same fun as I do. In fact, I've been thinking lately how much fun it would be to run and jump in a pile of leaves! Cute picture barb!
I love all of those wild yellow flowers. Obviously we don't get any color changes except for a few leaves dropping.
Crunching leaves is the best.
Good thinking! I love it when I figure out a way to turn a difficult situation around (rarely happens). Beautiful photo, Barb.
Isn't fall wonderful? Love the spt!
Fantastic Mom Lesson, Good job.
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