Spending time with kids

     Sunday morning I decided it was time to go outside and go for a walk/jog.  I have been doing videos inside and just wasn't in the mood to have my butt kicked like that (Jillian is one tough trainer!).  As I was getting ready my son asks if he can come with me.  He will be 7 in April.  I asked him if he was sure, that there would be no resting and I would be gone for 30 minutes.  He still said he wanted to go.  Who am I to discourage fostering a love of exercise in my kids?  I mean he is super skinny now but that won't always be the case and it is so good for you! 
     We went 30 minutes and he did really well until the 20 minute mark, then he started to get tired.  But he didn't complain he just walked slower as I jogged ahead and then waited for him to catch up.  The whole time we are talking about the streets we live on, me trying to give him a sense of direction in our neighborhood, reviewing our address and phone number in case he ever gets lost and needs to tell a police officer, talking about how much he loves sundays because he gets to praise God and he loves praising God, telling me about a kid in school who is mean to him. 
     Okay, so I don't know if you got the significance of that last sentence but I didn't figure it out until today.  I had an amazing 30 minutes with my child talking about life with no distractions, no other kids crying for attention, no tv or music or toys or fighting...just 30 minutes of amazing time with my child. 
     How did I miss the significance of it yesterday?  Having 3 kids, it is hard to get that 1 on 1 time with each of them.  I do my youngest b/c she is at home with me a few hours while the other 2 are in school.  I did with him before the girls came along.  But I really don't take the time like this.  Oh, I will take one of them to the grocery store with me, or running other errands but my mind is always on the task at hand.  When he grabbed my hand towards the end whether it was because he was tired or whether his little heart figured it out faster than mine that we just had a great time together, I didn't stop and cherish like I should have.  But I am today.  And I plan to do more of this with each of my kids.  I want to start something now, so that when they are teenagers, I have this bond with them, hopefull where they can talk to me about anything and pray with me and ask me questions.  It's those moments that get me through all the tough times of being a mom.