Parklife

So today I decided I would brave a whole new skill base – combining taking mum out for a stroll in her wheelchair with walking Scrumpy. I am a woman and we are naturally made to multi-task, or so I thought….

Challenge 1 – getting Mum to fetch her own shoes and put them on, her token effort towards getting some pre-walk exercise as she sure as hell wasn't going to get any swanning her way round the park in her wheelchair. Finally my threat of 'I'm going without you' trumped her 'but I don't want to go up the stairs'. My, how the adult/dependent seesaw has swung 180 degrees.

Challenge 2: Getting out of the front door with Mum in said wheelchair, only to find front path blocked by builders' ladder. Cue tipping her out and reloading on the pavement. No mean feat with a rabidly excited dog to contend with, under the amused scrutiny of several crack-displaying builders up on our scaffolding.

Challenge 3: Pressing the button on the road crossing while maintaining a grip on the dog, determined to throw herself at a huge passing lorry, and also not letting Mum roll into the path of oncoming vehicles. All while trying not to sweat profusely in my 'I've just been to the gym so it won't matter if I get overly hot on the walk and it's so much easier to carry everything when I wear my walking jacket'. Cue 8 legs heading over the crossing, only one pair belonging to a shiny purple buffalo.

Challenge 5: Getting round the 'these zigzagging metal stanchions stop cyclists coming down the alleyway' slalom. Sorry Mum – I'm sure the scrapey bump on your elbow will mend soon and Scrumpy will at least have learnt that coming too close to the wheels on the wheelchair will give her paws for thought…  

Challenge 6: Finally, the ultimate in multi-tasking priority setting… Trying to pick up the inevitable large and sloppy Scrumpy poo in a plastic bag over my hand, while avoiding her lead trailing in it and Scrumpy herself running back through the mess, as me bending over surely means the gift of food or a quick stroke. Also while trying not to let my I-Phone fall out of my top pocket into the poo nor grab it using the hand with the now-full poo bag on it… And then suddenly spotting how Mum is gently rolling backwards down the not-so-flat-after-all path, clearly oblivious to the movement herself but heading steadily off at a tangent towards the kids' playground and some now somewhat alert parents…

Ah happy days. Having learned from this I went promptly home and told Silviya (about 8 stone and 5 foot 2) just how easy it is to combine a dog walk with taking Mum out in the wheelchair.

Wicked but irresistibly tempting… x