Fun at the park

This past weekend was Canada day weekend, which means that today was a day off. Maren and I took a trip to the park this morning. She had lots of fun climbing up the steps and going down the slide by herself.

Today was my first time trying out putting Maren in a harness and detachable leash. Many people object to this practice generally, as they don't like the idea of a child being harnessed and leashed. But for me, it is becoming necessary if I want to go out with Maren alone. 

She is becoming more physically capable, and can now easily run away very quickly, and I can't chase after her. No matter what I do or how hard I try, I am not physically capable of keeping up with her. And since at her age no matter how much she wants to she is just not capable of doing what I ask of her or controlling her behaviour all the time, it seemed that the harness and leash option was the only option. I got one that extends to 16 feet, but that can be stopped/held at any point so that I can keep her closer to me if need be (for example on a sidewalk or close to a road). The harness is made specifically for toddlers, but the leash is a dog leash.

Trying it out today, I learned some things. First, I have to figure out exactly when to attach the detachable leash. She definitely can't do things like slide down the slide attached to a leash, but she can run away so quickly that I have to find the exact right moment to attach it. Second, she is actually really good at listening and controlling her behaviour when it's just me and her. But as soon as another family showed up at the park it was like I wasn't even there. She ran away from me so quickly that another child's grandmother had to run after her and bring her back to me. It actually terrified me how quickly she could get away, but it was also kind of reassuring that without distraction she listened really well. So I have hope that in the future things will get easier in that respect :-)

The last thing I learned is that I need to figure out how to conserve energy if I'm going to take her out alone. Even if I have her attached to me and I am not afraid of her running off, it is still exhausting to be out with her. I know that having a toddler is exhausting for anyone, but since I get physically tired out so much faster than most people it is especially difficult for me. So this I will have to figure out.

All in all not a bad experiment, and hopefully will get better with time!