The things parents will do for their kids...

If you are a parent, you will certainly appreciate this. If you aren't, you should at least get a good laugh...

Elisabeth and I had an afternoon of favorites planned (the library and the park) so we were looking forward to getting out of the house today. After loading up on some new movies and books from the library, we headed to the park. I've been trying to work out more, so we parked a mile away from the park so I could run there. We parked and I loaded Elisabeth up into the jogging stroller with snacks, water, and her favorite (stuffed) kitty cat. I normally tell her to leave her kitty cat in the car, but for some reason today I let her hold it while I took my jog. Now mind you that Elisabeth is thoroughly attached to this kitty cat...she carries it proudly, tucked just under her arm as her constant companion through her every endeavor.

So we get to the park after a nice run and upon getting her out of the jogging stroller, I notice that kitty cat is no where in sight! My heart drops, because I know how much she loves this cat and I have no clue where it is! I look at her and ask frantically, "Elisabeth! Where is your kitty cat?!" She looks at me, returns the frantic look, and says in a sad, whining voice, "Kitty cat? Kitty cat?" I thought she might start crying, but thankfully she remembered that we were at the park and her mind moved on to swings, slides, and rocks. We were meeting a friend there with her little boy, so upon seeing her I told her what had just happened. I then asked if she would watch Elisabeth while I ran back the way we had come to see if I could find it. She completely understood, said yes, and I was on my way to find Kitty Cat. So I ran (well, I may have walked a little...I'm working on getting back into shape! But I had good motivation to run most of the way!) back the full mile to our car, and not once did I spot her beloved. I was sick at my stomach thinking of how crushed she would be and how she would probably cry herself to sleep because she didn't have her Kitty Cat. As I got to the car, I thought, "Oh, I'll just drive back to the park..." but then realized that I had left my keys with my friend at the park...a mile away! So I ran (most of the way) back to the park, deciding to go a different way, to get there faster and to have a different view.

I rounded a corner onto a street that we had run down to get to the park, and as I did, I saw a small white lump in the middle of the sidewalk (apparently the first time I ran by looking for the cat, I was on the other side of the street). It all happened in slow motion...I'm thinking, "Could it be the cat?! Please be the cat!!" And my heart rate picks up, as does my pace... I'm getting closer and closer, thinking "Please let it be the cat, please let it be the cat!!" I get close enough to see that it is, lean down to pick it up, hug it to my chest as I dance around in a circle, before holding it the air yelling, "Yes!! I found the cat!!" Okay, actually none of that happened...I only thought, "Thank You!", breathed a HUGE sigh of relief, and quietly scooped up the cat to continue running back to the park. I'm sure I had a satisfied smile on my face though! I ran triumphantly back to the park to proudly show Elisabeth that I had saved the day, and while she was excited to see her Kitty Cat, her attention soon turned to my water bottle...and that's all she cared about the rest of the time we were at the park! And after our wonderful time at the park with my friend and her son, we still had another mile to go back to the car! Now to you distance runners (you know who you are...I am so envious of you!) this may not seem like a big deal, but to these legs, four miles is a BIG deal! Four miles!! I ran four miles to save a stuffed animal!! Oh, how I love my daughter!!


My mom has assured me that she will someday make Elisabeth aware of my trek to save her beloved Kitty Cat! Elisabeth will better appreciate hearing of her mom's sacrifice if it comes from someone else...If I tell her when she old enough to understand, I'm sure she'll just think I'm lame! I never understood why my mom did the things she used to do for us. Now that I'm a mom I understand.

The things parents will do for their kids...