Truth behind the Instagram filter

The family walk photo. The smiles and the joy, but rarely does it paint the full picture.

Now I absolutely adore a family walk. Me and my wife strolling through the countryside with our little one and our spaniel, it’s my dream, but oh does it come with its challenges, and we only have Luca to convince us that walking is good for the mind, body and soul, hats of to those trying to convince two or three (or four?) little ones.

Now at 3 and a half, Luca has certainly found his voice, it’s amazing to watch his personality developing every single day, and I genuinely enjoy watching him grow. We do our best to involve him in decisions and provide choices, but as most parents will understand, sometimes those choices have to be limited.

For this particular walk, it took a while to get the wheels in motion. We had a number of hurdles which included:

“I not want to go for a walk”

“I not want to wear wellies”

Finally got everyone into the car.

“I not want to walk here, I not like this place”

Everyone out of the car. Walk underway. 4 minutes later...

“I’m tired. I’m running out of battery. Pick me up.”

A quick team talk about the importance of walking on your own legs. We go again...

We enter a safe space for Archie to run off the lead. Luca wants Archie back on the lead.

A quick team talk about the importance of allowing Archie to run free and explore. We go again...

“I’m tired. I’m running out of battery. Pick me up.”

We’re 20mins into the walk now, so I put Luca on my shoulders for a little rest. We go again...

“I’m hungry. I want a biscuit”

A quick team talk about how daddy doesn’t want crumbs in his hair. We explained how we packed a picnic and are almost at the picnic bench. We go again...

Make it to the picnic bench. Let me take a selfie!

It’s at this point Luca got into his stride, we had some food and he thrived for the rest of the walk. It was a tough journey getting there, but well worth it. Sometimes as parents we just need to take a deep breath and accept the challenging moments, because remaining calm through the challenging moments can lead to those magical moments.