Our landlord won't let us get a dog...

...so we put a leash on our two-year-old instead. I was embarrassed to have put a leash on my child like she's some sort of canine, but that went away in the first ten seconds.

The first ten seconds of her trying out the backpack with its "monkey tail"

Scarlet loves the monkey backpack and I love that she doesn't resent being steered away from oncoming traffic and that I don't have to constantly chase after her and pick her up. It has been increasingly more difficult to do that ever since I entered the third trimester.

Whenever Scarlet puts on her backpack, she expects to go somewhere. She insists on wearing it all day long regardless, but she also expects to go places. The backpack has apparently forced us all to be more active. Josh and Becca took her on a hike on Saturday. Then we went on a second hike later in the day that I could join in on. On Sunday we took her for a walk around the neighborhood. Yesterday we went on another hike for FHE. Today I took her for a walk during my lunch break. She has been more active than she's ever been before and it's thanks to that silly leash.

We discovered that using the stroller to get her places isn't very effective anymore because she grows restless and wants to run free. She also has no desire to live, so she doesn't pay any attention to sidewalks, streets, or oncoming traffic. The leash has cured us of all of those concerns. So if you are a parent of a toddler and feel the slight shame of having to kennel your child at night and serve dinner out of feeding bowls without utensils, don't be embarrassed! Go the extra mile and buy a leash for that kid as well. It'll make a world of difference.