My first ‘walking with toddler’ expedition!

I pulled out my trusty Ordnance Survey (OS) Leisure Map this morning!

Oh the excitement, my dear, old friend! Something flickered in the back of my mind, a memory of something… creaky old map-reading skills. Long forgotten – but now called for again – we were going on a walk!

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been on lots of ‘walks’ with the little one – we’ve tottered around this park, that nature reserve, National Trust parklands…everywhere there has been a café, coffee, cake and well-maintained toilet and baby changing facilities. We’ve even made it around Derwent Water in the Lake District with the help of the Launch boat and several café stops on the way….

But this was the first ‘pack your bag, get out your map and head out into open countryside-type walk…’ and I was a bit beyond excited.

So what happened on my adventure into the great outdoors?

TODDLER TIP 1. My gorgeous toddler decided the map was a rather lovely play mat – so get your map folding/wrestling into map case done out of the sight of little ones. And whilst it is fun playing peek-a-boo with your faithful old OS it does defeat the object of the day i.e. getting out of the house and having a walk in the great outdoors.

TODDLER TIP 2. Try not to overpack – it was a hot day and we’re still in the early stages of toilet training – but even so, I didn’t need a choice of three types of juice, several spare leggings and knickers, a coat, wellies, trainers and sandals…and spare socks – plus pack lunch, sun cream, spare sun cream, sun hat, spare sun hat etc… I left a lot in the car when I got to the start of the walk and regained my sanity.

TODDLER TIP 3. I took my daughter’s nursery backpack… I mean, come on. Kitty! I should have taken my rucksack. My daughter isn’t going to be traumatised if my backpack doesn’t have a large ladybird and flowers on. And why did I think just because it was a backpack it would fit everything in!! Nope, I needed to get out my real adult backpack again! It was time… (but where is it?)

TODDLER TIP 4. The day started out cloudy (hence the wet weather gear…) I had checked the weather and knew it would turn out warm. So it’s the old mantra ‘cover up, sun cream, sun hat, stay in shade…’ my daughter was asking for drinks/juice within the first 15 minutes – if you’re going to overpack anything on a sunny day when getting out with the kids – make it drinks and sun protection.

TODDLER TIP 5. Toddler’s don’t know about nettles!! One leaf looks very much like another and I was too late in anticipating the hazard! She reached out to grab a fluttering leaf and ‘oowwwww……’ the poor kid had a very sore hand.

Also, the only thing she took an interest in collecting were fallen holly berries – they were pretty, red, on the ground and ‘they look like cherries’ (btw – I’m not an advocate of ‘collecting’ or taking anything from its natural habitat). But, somewhere from the depths of my battered memory, I remembered they’re poisonous. I realised I needed to become much more knowledgeable about the potential ‘nature’ hazards we might encounter together.

TODDLER TIP 6. Don’t overdo it. In the end, I walked just two miles – from Great Ayton village, North Yorkshire to the edge of the National Trust maintained Cliff Ridge Wood. It took just over 2 hours. We ate our sandwich sat at the edge of the woodland in the shade of the trees and played on the short flight of stone stairs. It was reaching quite high temperatures (20c +) by the time we turned around and walked back again. But it was enough for that first walk with a toddler. Throw in nettle stings, a topple over resulting in a grazed hand, application of sun cream, wee stops, eating, playing and just observing and talking about all the wonderful things we could see, touch, hear and explore – a kissing gate occupied a good ten minutes!

Do you know – it was wonderful. Happy walking!

What did I take?
Packed lunch, several bottles of juice water (we used them all), sun hats, sun cream, spare shorts, light cardigan, keys, purse, phone, nappies (early days toilet training!) and wipes!

What did I wish I’d taken?
A proper backpack to fit everything in and with nice straps (not thin plastic ones!)
A small mat to sit on – for little (hers) and big (mine) bums and our food.
A selfie stick – I’ve never used one but I’m not going to have a single photo of me and my little one together! And I want to get the background in rather than just our two faces who could be anywhere…
A carrier bag for rubbish.

What did I need to know?
My route!
Weather!

What did I wish I’d known?
Nature’s medicine and how to manage a nettle sting (is it dock leaves?).
What’s poisonous and what’s not!

After our little walk, we refreshed ourselves with a cooling ice cream at Stamps Coffee Shop and bought a delicious steak Petch Butcher’s Pie to take home – yummy!