Stop and take a sniff

As I was running this morning, I saw a woman who was on a leisurely stroll with her dog. It was amusing to watch her "walk" this dog, because every few steps the dog would meander over to the side of the trail and begin ferociously sniffing, which of course impeded her walk. However, the best part of this observation was that instead of quickly trying to pull the dog back onto the trail or scold him for slowing her down, she just stopped. Now I don't mean a one second take a half sniff and then YANK back onto the trail. No, she stopped, stood, waited, and when the dog was ready they continued onward. This got me thinking (hey, something has to distract me from my huffing and puffing) how often do we do this with our children? Just stop completely wherever they are at, and enjoy the moment with them, rather than trying to immediately "pull them back onto the trail." I hope that with the children I teach, and someday my own, that I am never in too big of a hurry or too busy to stop with them and share in those "off-trail" moments.