Saturday Mornings and the Secret Society

Many of the Saturday mornings since Anna's birth, I've gotten up early & taken Anna for a walk. We quietly close the bedroom door, leaving Traci & the dog sound asleep or, at least, on the verge of a mid-morning nap. Of course, the official purpose of our walk is to let mom catch a few extra Z's & to force Anna to take a longer morning nap. In less urban areas, babies apparently love to ride in the car. Apparently that's what relaxes them. Here there are just too many stop signs & too much congestion to get up enough speed in the car to soothe. But, a brisk stroller ride seems to have the same effect. So, off we go. I play the role of the martyr, giving up that bonus snooze. The truth is, it's just about my favorite part of the week. Few things make me prouder than heading down our tree-lined street behind the stroller. I'm not alone in this either.

In our neighborhood, there seems to be a sort of "Saturday Secret Society" of Dads & kids. We gather in the coffee shops or at the farmer's market in the square. Strollers parked, 2 & 3 deep with no moms to be found. We hold doors for one another - we're not quite as nimble with the strollers as the moms are. We nod at one another & chuckle at the antics of each other's children. But mostly, we just stroll. Then by about 9:30 nearly all the dads are gone - home to wake mom or home to feed babies. By 10 o'clock the sidewalks fill with Saturday morning shoppers & brunch goers and no evidence of our secret society exists.