Taking Little to school in the morning is quite an experience. It looks something like this:

• There is no “drop-off” for Little so I must park and walk her to the backside of the building; the location of her classroom.
• A large percentage of kids walk, ride bikes, or ride a scooter alongside their walking mother.
• An equally large percentage of parents use this as an opportunity to walk their dog and so there are canines everywhere.
• Everyone hangs outside while waiting for the bell to ring. When the bell rings, kids run in every direction to line up outside their classroom (all classrooms open to the outside . . . and inside) door and wait for the teacher to open the door and let them file in.

Now, imagine if you will what happened this morning and know that this has been the routine for the past week+.  I park the car and Little and I cross to the sidewalk in front of the school and begin the walk to her classroom; the distance to her room is about that of a football field. As we walk I try to make eye contact with other mothers so as I have the opportunity to say hi, but other mothers are busy chatting with their neighbors/friends and making sure their dogs are not jumping on anyone or attacking another passing dog.

Today someone calls out “Hi, Little!” This is a first, but I am sure it will only increase in frequency as folks grow to know her and fall in love with her personality and voice.

Between our car and the classroom we pass seven dogs. Each time we pass a dog Little gets distracted, stops, turns and says, “I like your dog, ” and then follows that up with either “What kind of dog is it?” or “What’s your dog’s name?” I get her focused and walking again, only to hear “I like your dog. What’s your dog’s name?” and turn to see that I left her seven steps back and I need to go get her walking and focused again. This happens at every dog. We have gotten to school on time everyday but she has almost been late everyday this week because of dog chats on the way to her classroom.

Once I get Little to the back she walks away as I say, “Have a great day! Honor Jesus.” Today she calls back, “I will! You have a great day at home and honor Jesus at home.” Then I walked the football field back to the van and thought about how funny my life is AND how every parent is dressed like a Berry student who grew up, got a dog, and moved to Ft. Collins. I think that every morning. And then I go get coffee.