Its winter-time. There are several things about winter-time that I love (e.g., snuggling on the couch when its cold out, and ummmmm..... Okay, maybe not several), and several things about winter-time that I strongly dislike. I probably would even use a stronger expression than "strongly dislike" but we have a "we don't say H*TE" policy in effect at our house.
Possibly the #1 thing I ha.., I mean strongly dislike, about winter-time is preparing my children to play in the snow. There's a lot of tugging and pulling and stuffing that goes on to keep them warm. And of course, they only need to be warm for about 5 minutes, because then they either have to come in to the potty, or they are "all done outside."
This is why my girls, ages 3 and 5, have played in the snow about three times in their entire lives. I know, I know. You're thinking, "Oh those poor girls. They need to experience building a snowman, and sledding, and other wonderful winter-time things."
And I'm here to tell you that they don't. Not on a regular basis anyway.
My mommy-guilt came into play, though, when Rory started playing in the snow at recess and she just went on and on about how much fun it is, and her mittens really don't work because she can't pick up the snow and the toys to build things and on and on and on. Guilty, guilty, guilty. Depriving my children of such a basic joy. I wondered to myself, how could I let them play in the snow without subjecting myself to the previously-mentioned tugging, pulling and stuffing? And then it came to me.....Papa Mark would do it!
I called Grandma Julie the week before Christmas and told her the girls would sure enjoy playing on a big snow pile. The kind of snow pile Sukey and I played on when we were kids, before Papa was "Papa" and when he was just "Dad." And sure enough, Grandma Julie passed the message on to Papa. And then Grandma Julie was on the phone telling me about the pile they were admiring from the kitchen window. Jackpot!
So the day after Christmas, the girls bundled up (and yes, I still had to tug and pull and stuff) and went out to play on the snow pile that could only be created with Papa's loader tractor. Soren had trouble walking in the deep snow, but managed to "help" Chris make two snowmen. Rory climbed on the snow pile, and with extensive help from Papa, slid down in the sled about 20 times. There was some crying, but for the most part, it was all good. Grandma Julie and I went out for a while to take some pictures, but then went inside where it was much warmer.
Once the girls got tired of climbing, throwing, falling and sliding, Papa pulled them all over in the sled. So the tugging, pulling and stuffing was good for over an hour. Definitely worth it.
Rory's favorite part was "sliding down the hill and falling off the sled."
And Soren's favorite part was "making a big snowman with Daddy."
