Fun in the Snow

The last few winters have been very light on snow, especially for us. This year, however, we’ve gotten quite a bit of it. We’ve had a lot of it melt and some has been replaced with ice, but overall it has been a snowy winter. With two young kids and a new house, I envisioned us playing joyfully in the snow every weekend.

And the start of this weekend was so promising. The weather finally cooperated with our busy schedules and there was snow on the ground while being warm enough to take the littles outside. As an added bonus, I remembered to bring all of their snow gear home from daycare…I wanted to make this a picturesque, snow-filled, weekend of winter wonder. I even had plans to break out the DSLR to snap some high quality pics of my beautiful children.

Spoiler Alert: None of that happened.

this photo was staged

On Saturday morning, everyone woke up early (and in a good mood), we had a delicious breakfast consisting of a variety of tropical fruits (guava, mango, dragonfruit), and then the Mister headed off to get some work done on his tattoo. I decided to head outside while the sun was shining to get some much needed fresh air and Vitamin D for me and the kiddos. Here is where I ran into hurdle number one…Paddy (who is always asking to play outside) didn’t want to go out, he wanted to do “art crafts”. I assured him that we would have time for that later and convinced him to get his gear on. Hurdle number two: Cramming a one year old into full bib overalls, boots, gloves, and a hat equals lots and lots of seaming. But I got her dressed and we got outside. Hurdle three: said one year old would not sit up in the sled and instead laid down on her back and yelled (she does a lot of yelling).

Eventually I got the brilliant idea to put both of them in the sled so she had some support with sitting and Paddy did’t feel left out. But then they both get bored with it and Paddy bailed. I picked up the screaming Mo and ask Paddy what they do when they go outside at school. “Play.” he replied. Super! Thanks, Dude. “Let’s go for a walk!” I suggested. I was met with indifference at best, but I was carrying the screamer and I made the big one come along against his will. Hurdle number I’ve-lost-count: Paddy is bored by the time we made it past the 4th house. I give in an compromise telling him we’ll head back when we get to the next intersection. We spent the rest of the walk pointing out house numbers. It is at this point that I think maybe, just maybe, we had broken through the aura of grumpiness that has been surrounding my babes.

So, when we got back to the yard, I asked Paddy if he would be willing to sit in the sled with Mo for a couple of pictures. Begrudgingly, he agreed. I got them settled in the sled and pulled out my phone just in time for the full-blown meltdown! I’m done, they’d broken me and it wasn’t even noon. We headed inside, striped off winter gear, and I sent each of them to their rooms to yell until they fall asleep. No one romped gleefully through the sparkling snow. There were no peals of laughter coming from the mouths of rosy-cheeked cherubs. Just sourness and grumping.

Mauler

Sounds about right.