HI HO HI HO Off to McDonald's We Go

Well, since it was President's day and the boys were home all day from school, I thought it would be a good time for them to use their gift cards. However, as the van was at the mechanics to have some work done, we had no car. Luckily the weather complied (it was about 45 degrees with sunshine, no wind) and we were able to walk. Before we left I showed S1 the leash, he then stuck his arm out for me. But I told him that if he listened to mom, he wouldn't have to wear it. But that he would need to stay on the sidewalk.

So off I went with my little troop of boys. S2 took the lead with S1 hippity hopping along behind him while S3 wanted to hold my hand while we walked. It took us about 30 min to walk there because of our slow pace (after all, a three year old can only walk so fast) but we made it without incident! I couldn't believe it. S1 had stayed on the sidewalk the whole way, with just a couple of reminders when he got too close to the edge, had held my hand willingly when it was time to cross the street and didn't have a fit while waiting for the light to change at the crosswalk (although I did have to hold on to the back of his jacket so he didn't take off down the sidewalk). Even more amazing was that S1 actually played at the McDonald's playland. I usually don't go there because he doesn't like that playlands since it's all closed in. But the place was a zoo and he climbed and played in that thing for over a hour before I finally grabbed him and said we were going home. S2 and S3 also had fun playing, chasing and racing each other up the jungle gym and down the slides. We finally got everyone's boots and coats on and headed home with S1's leftovers.

S1 did pretty well on the way home too. Once he did run out into the road, but I was able to grab him quickly before he got too far off the sidewalk. He came back cooperatively when reminded about the leash. Then when we were a little more than a block from home, he got distracted by the toys in someone's yard and wanted to stay and play with those. When he wouldn't come with me but kept dropping to the ground, I pulled out the leash for him to see and reminded him of what would happen if he didn't listen and he hopped up and grudgingly came with me. The rest of the way home was uneventful until we got to our yard. We've got gravel out front next to the driveway. As soon as we stepped onto it, S1 dropped and started to play in it. Normally not a problem but as I looked down I noticed that a cat had pooped in the gravel and covered it up. This was a problem because that was exactly where S1 stuck his hand and spread gravel around! Now I not only had to wrestle him to the house, but somehow get his hand clean before I got cat poop on me or his jacket or he stuck his hand in his mouth, while I unlocked the front door. By some miracle we managed to make it inside and get his hand cleaned without further incident. Needless to say I considered that my exercise for the day and once everyone was settled, collapsed onto my bed to recover!