Tulsa, OK

School is out for summer, and the kids are happy. For all of about 2 days, then they’re bored. The weekly library trip helps to break up the non-stop video games and television watching. Sure, it’s not the healthiest thing for them, but they are entertained, relatively safe and occupied.

However, in an attempt at good parenting, we decided to try family walks. It would be good exercise for all of us , and give us time to talk and become closer as a family. Sounds like a good idea, huh? It was great…in theory. Then reality intervened.

First was the problem with scheduling. Some of us are morning people and some are not. But, after a little moaning and groaning, we decided a short walk through the neighborhood after dinner would be best for most of us. The needs of the many vs the few and all that. Hurdle one cleared.

Then comes the issue of a dress code. Silly mother that I am, I thought practical shoes and comfortable clothes would be an easy, obvious choice. WRONG. The twelve-year-old boy only had to be convinced to wear pants that stayed up on their own. The six-year-old had to be talked out of high heels and her nicest dress. Apparently, she thought we were taking our short walk on a red carpet. By the time I had her out of those, and into shorts and sneakers, I felt like I already had my workout. Of course, the boy had wandered back to the video games and had to be re-unplugged.

Finally, we were all together in proper attire and with plenty of accessories (sunglasses,water,sunscreen,hats,dogs,etc). We walked out the front door and down the driveway. There, we discovered we have no sidewalks. There are no sidewalks on our block nor in our neighborhood. In fact, the entire subdivision, apparently, was planned with no sidewalks. (No parks either, but that is a whole other post.)

What were the builders thinking? That everyone should drive everywhere? I am not driving to take a walk, that is plain crazy. Not to mention wasteful, and with current fuel costs, expensive.

I think it is just one more example of mankind’s failure to think ahead and plan for a future that is more than 2 days ahead of us. Maybe it’s time we started thinking in decades and centuries instead of just days and weeks. Many Native American tribes believe that we should think and plan for the next seven generations. That sounds like a pretty good idea to me.

But, in the meantime, we’ll be taking our walks in the streets of our neighborhood and wondering, “Where are all the sidewalks?”.

summer, kids, library, family, walks, parenting, red carpet, workout, neighborhood, sidewalks, native american, seven generations