Hayley is a huge snow fan. She could happily stay outside in the snow until she turns blue and freezes solid. When we went out today, she was running everywhere, hiding diamonds (chunks of ice) inside snow banks to hide them from the pirates (a game I invented for her because it was one Breanna could keep up with), and building a little winter fort under a tree for the fairies.
I used to love the snow and winter too. Not so much anymore. I’d just as soon hibernate. Breanna and I share this in common. She was keen on the snow for about ten minutes.
Then she got really tired of falling down. I got tired of that too because she can’t get up very easily in her snow suit so I had to constantly trudge through the snow after her to haul her back up, and being a bit heavier than a two-year-old, I kept sinking.
At one point, she started asking, “home? Mommy, home?” which was her version of, “Jesus Christ woman, I’m cold and sick of this snow and I’d like to go inside where it’s warm and dry and I can play with my new toys and perhaps eat a cookie.” I managed to get the pirate game going for a bit which kept her happy for another ten minutes or so. Then she just had enough and I picked her up while bargaining with Hayley that she could have hot chocolate in exchange for going inside in another five minutes. That had just been settled when Breanna passed out on my shoulder, sound asleep, mouth open to the wind.
Luckily for my back, George arrived home five minutes later and took the sleeping snow bunny upstairs. More than once I’ve accidentally woken Breanna up by sneezing down the hall, but somehow he managed to remove her boots, undo her snow suit so she wouldn’t overheat, and put her down on the bed without waking her up. She slept until four, kept dozing off for another 20 minutes even though I poked her in the ribs and called her name while she noodle-necked all over the place, and still managed to fall asleep at a decent hour tonight. I think it’s safe to say that the holiday season has exhausted my little one.
The same can not be said for the five-year-old who played outside for an extra half hour until I pleaded to come in due to cold feet and hands (mine, not hers) and then immediately wanted to know what we could do now, “could I have some hot chocolate now can I paint where is my easy bake oven are my sea monkeys bigger yet where are you going?” Once they start school there’s just no rest for parents when they’re off from school is there?
