Yesterday, it snowed all day long. It started at about 8AM and didn’t stop until it was dark out. Of course, this means dreams of sledding and snowman making started to firmly plant themselves in Mazzy’s head.
Mike and I had to go to work and Mazzy’s school wasn’t cancelled, so everyone was off the hook. But come this weekend, if the snow decides to stick around, I know “Let’s play outside in the snow!” is the first thing Mazzy will say Saturday morning when she wakes up.
Keep in mind, we live in the city, so playing in the back yard is not an option.
Mike and I are the kind of parents who like to see our daughter have a good time, so we will probably say, “Yay! Let’s to go to the park and make a snowman!”
Which sounds fantastic, but here’s how I imagine it will all go down…
PHASE ONE: “This will be fun!”
The energy is high. The kids are smiling. Everyone is raring to go. Mike is yelling things like, “Everyone get their snow boots on!” in a jovial fashion. Harlow has no idea what’s happening but she’s excited because everyone else is. She might even grab her hat and hand it me as I’m putting on Mazzy’s. “Ha Ha Ha!!!!” We’ll all laugh, “Harlow loves the snow too!”
PHASE TWO: The Setback
Uh-oh. Mazzy’s snowboots are a little small. I guess it was unrealistic of me to think her boots from last winter would still fit. “Why didn’t you buy her new snow boots this year?” Mike will ask. “Why didn’t YOU buy her new snow boots this year?” I’ll retort. “They fit perfect!” Mazzy will insist. Mike and I will shrug at each other. Disaster averted.
PHASE THREE: The Second Setback
Where is Harlow’s mitten? I can find one but not the other. Common sense says they should be together. I’ll rack my brain to think where the other mitten might be. “Here’s Harlow’s mitten!” That’s Mazzy trying to be helpful, holding out a glove that is clearly not the same as the mitten. “Why don’t you just use these gloves?” That’s Mike handing me a second pair of Mazzy’s gloves, which are clearly too big. We’ll look in every drawer, check in every jacket pocket, search the stroller. Finally, once the house is totally destroyed, we’ll find it in a random side pocket of the diaper bag. “Found it! Let’s go!”
PHASE FOUR: The Transporation Conundrum
“How are we going to take Harlow?” Mike will ask me. “Let’s take the stroller.” I’ll respond like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. “You can’t roll a stroller through the snow!” Mike will exclaim like I’m the dumbest person ever. We’ll both stand there for what feels like an eternity. “LET’S GO!!!!” Mazzy will scream. “Put Harlow in the carrier,” Mike will suggest. “Then I have to change my jacket.” I’ll take my jacket off, strap Harlow on, put my other jacket on. “Wait. Where’s the fleece carrier cover???” Mike will let out a huge sigh. “Come find me when you are ready to leave,” he’ll mutter as he heads to the bedroom.
PHASE FIVE: The Unexpected Detour
Harlow’s mitten has been found. We are all ready. Jackets on. Gloves fastened. Hats in place. Hoods Up. We’ve even got our smiles back. “Who’s ready to make a snow man???” Mike will shout. “I AM!!!!!!” I will shout back. We’ll all head out the door. Except Mazzy. She’ll stay put. We’ll turn back to look her. “I have to go to the bathroom.” DEAR GOD NOOOOOOOO.
PHASE SIX: Out the Door
We leave the house. Walk down the street. “Look at all the snow!” Mazzy will shout excitedly as she crushes icy patches with her boots. Harlow’s snuggled on my chest in the carrier. Mike’s leading the parade. All is good. We’ll arrive at the park. Ready to build our snowman. Everyone else is sledding. “Did we bring a sled?” Mazzy will asks. “Ummmm….. no?” I’ll say, as if I’m not really sure. “BUT I WANT A SLED!!!!!!”
PHASE SEVEN: And Back to House We Go
We successfully convince Mazzy that snowman making is more fun than sledding. We will buy a sled and go sledding tomorrow. (Total lie.) We’ll hunker down to build the snowman. I’ll unattach Harlow and put her on the ground. Harlow will take one look at all the white stuff surrounding her and start crying. “The snow isn’t really packable snow, ” Mike will say after a few attempts. “I’M COLD!!!” Mazzy will scream. “Hot chocolate at home?” I’ll suggest. “YAY!!!!”
And we’re done.
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Lol I don’t have kids but I totally understand!! You have such a great sense if humor Ilana. It’s so nice that you can laugh about your tests and trials as a mom 🙂 I hope that when I have kids I can find humor in it too lol 🙂
100% truth. But I will say I might have a slight advantage not living in the city, I could watch from the window! Then again sometimes a romp in the snow could be fun! Stay warm!
True true true!!! Maybe we’ll head to our building’s snowy roof instead of Central Park for snow play. At least it’s closer for bathroom breaks!
Um. Are you spying on me? Because my husband and I literally had this exact conversation about my three year old’s snow boots. (Related: Did you also have the same convo about snow pants? ‘Cause we did.) Love this post. 🙂
“Why didn’t you buy her new snow boots this year?” Mike will ask. “Why didn’t YOU buy her new snow boots this year?” I’ll retort.”
-Alyssa
thesparklylife.com
Sounds about right. I took our 2 1/2 and 7 month old out in the snow a few weeks ago. 20 minutes of prep for ten minutes of fun because it was way too cold for anyone to enjoy it. I should post a picture of my youngest getting into her snowsuit. She was not convinced.
“Come find me when you’re ready to leave.” oooof. yikes. That comment would have put me over the edge. However…I’m pretty sure I’ve said that to my husband before who takes as long to get ready as a teenage girl.
Reading this makes me realize how good I have it. A front and back yard full of snow and kids who can dress themselves and go outside by themselves while I watch from the coziness of my house.
The perks of playing in the snow everyday are that you know the boots fit, the mittens are where you left them yesterday, and the 20 month old can put all her own outside gear on herself. The prep is easy part. Trying to get three toddlers to play in 2 feet of snow without getting stuck a million times, that’s the challenge.
What you describe is one of the reasons why I chose to live somewhere WITHOUT snow! I can’t even imagine trying to deal with young kids in weather like that. Just painful, LOL!
From step one to seven, I have the same life… Even the “come find me when you’re ready to go. ”
YES! Are they ever outside longer than it takes to get them dressed? Because I don’t think so!
So true! Esp the gloves. At this point my 3-yr-old wears one pink glove and a blue mitten because it’s what I can find.
It’s supposed to be 77 here today in sunny Phoenix AZ. My 4YO has only seen snow once, that I can remember. We may have hot summers, but no one has to shovel sunshine.
Makes me glad I don’t have kids!
And the coming back in, “My hands are burning! My hands are burning!”
Do you want to build a snowman? This damn song has been all my 4 y/o daughter can sing since the first time it snowed this year. Damn Frozen!!!
This post makes me feel a little bit better about the fact that my daughter is 5 years old and has never built a snowman, even though she really wanted to after she saw Frozen. And I was planning on driving her to the mountains to see snow this year, but we ended up having a drought here in California, so it didn’t work out. Oh well. Maybe next year.
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