That day, like many recently, was blustery and cold, but mothers have to get their kids out to work off some of their energy, so it was no surprise when I looked out my classroom window and saw a pair of women with children three or five years old in tow.
One mother, I remember, was striding across the street with a girl, hanging off of one hand, and a small boy, arms and legs dangling, under the other, and a cell phone tucked in her neck.
This is the sort of calisthenics that women through the ages have practiced: the foot-dragger-tug, the limp-kid-carry, the cross-the-street hustle, the no-hands-left conversation sustainer; and all this just a matter of course, full-body physical multi-tasking.
We can go farther: what about the multi-bag baby-gear haul, the clinging-kid-on-the-legs shuffle, the car-seat stretch insertion, the struggling-baby-from-carriage extraction? If the Olympics come to Boston, these sports should be represented.
You, Mom, on the street beneath my window, you're one of a tough breed I'm in awe of.
One mother, I remember, was striding across the street with a girl, hanging off of one hand, and a small boy, arms and legs dangling, under the other, and a cell phone tucked in her neck.
This is the sort of calisthenics that women through the ages have practiced: the foot-dragger-tug, the limp-kid-carry, the cross-the-street hustle, the no-hands-left conversation sustainer; and all this just a matter of course, full-body physical multi-tasking.
We can go farther: what about the multi-bag baby-gear haul, the clinging-kid-on-the-legs shuffle, the car-seat stretch insertion, the struggling-baby-from-carriage extraction? If the Olympics come to Boston, these sports should be represented.
You, Mom, on the street beneath my window, you're one of a tough breed I'm in awe of.
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