I admit, I’ve been slacking off this year and not been taking my morning walks. I don’t know why; I always feel better when I get exercise. One reason I don’t walk as much in the summer is because the sun is up earlier than I am. I can’t stand walking in the direct sunlight even if the heat of the day hasn’t begun, nor can I walk in the heat. So I’ve determined I just have to get up by six if I’m going to get a walk in. So far I’ve been doing pretty well.

On my way out the door every morning, I jot a note to my daughters letting them know I’m out walking and the time I left in case they get up and wonder where I am. Or if I don’t return then they know where I went. Then I burst out laughing; like either one of them would be up that early to read the note before I got back. It only takes me about 40 minutes to walk my mile and a half route. I can assure you neither of them would be out of bed any time before the sun has fully reached its peak.

Then one day last week after my walk I ate breakfast and decided to make a list of everything I wanted to get done for the day. I did it purely for myself as another small goal for my summer to go along with the new walking regimen. By the time my kids got up, I’d accomplished much of the list. Here’s what I had done: walk, blog, unload dishwasher, load dishwasher (I like to keep these related on their own line to give myself full credit where credit is due), scrub old camping grill, put old camping grill on free pile out front, weed my new rock garden, wash towels (I folded them, too, my mistake for not having that on the list, too), clean the rest of the kitchen.

I was out in the backyard finishing my weeding when my oldest sat down on the back patio to eat her breakfast around 11:30. In that moment, as sweat dripped off my forehead, I decided it would be a good “lesson” to show her the list and how many tasks I’d crossed off already. I wanted her to see how much a person could get done if they got up early.

She high-fived me.

It wasn’t exactly the response I was looking for. I’m the parent – I don’t need a high-five for getting my chores done. That’s what parents do. When the youngest got up a few minutes later, she also held up her hand for a return slap.

Wait. No, no, no. It’s nice they were proud of me, I was proud of myself, but they weren’t listening. I was trying to impart my infinite wisdom and all I get is a high-five? Shouldn’t they have stopped for a minute and basked in the glow of a lesson well learned? Sitting at my feet, looking up adoringly, admiring my persistence, and vowing to move forward with their own lives and better themselves from then on out?

I’m trying to set an example here; pay attention. I tried one more time, “Get up earlier, you can do more than one thing a day, go to bed earlier, be responsible for some of the household…” Oh, never mind.

Gretchen Leigh is a stay-at-home mom who lives in Covington. You can read more of her writing and her daily blog on her website livingwithgleigh.com or on Facebook at “Living with Gleigh,” or twitter @livewithgleigh. Her column is available every week at maplevalleyreporter.com under the Lifestyles section.