dusting

It goes without saying that when parents are prepared for an event - it most likely will not happen.  Thats why we drive around with tiny potties, diapers, first aid kits, extra granola bars, and applesauce packs in our car.  It's why at the end of each season we pack up four pairs of hardly used snow boots to send to good will.  Our little part of the world is nestled between two rather cozy hills - and those hills do all they can to keep massive amounts of snowfall off of our streets - to the dismay of every school age student in the county.  

The first winter that the girls could "play" in the snow we regaled ourselves with a multitude of mittens, hats, pants, coats, and boots.  I believe we used them once.  The year after , if memory serves,  we were startling unprepared (discouraged by the lack of snow the prior year), as such we missed the biggest snow of the season.  It seems the more prepared we were for snow, the less snow we got.  So, much to the disappointment of four little kiddos on Rosebud Street, four new pairs of goulashes complete with winter welly socks have been sitting unused.  Until this Sunday!

 

While daddy was shoveling the driveway and walk I stuck, shoved, pulled and coaxed four excited babies into their (slightly small) winter gear. The four of them were so glad to have a chance to play in the snow - and I was so glad that they decided to play outside for longer then it took to get them in the clothes to begin with.  The very same sun that kept the snow away from our neck of the woods most of the season was out in full force, making this particular morning a perfect time to play outdoors.  The warm air helped the grass blades poked through the thin layer of snow - a reminder that even though the ground was white for the first time - there was not enough of the prized substance to make a snowman... this time.  

For Jack and Alex, this is the first snow of their memory.  Last year they had mixed reactions.  This year the verdict was unanimous... total love.  The two of them did exactly what boys for generations have done when they set foot in the snow... they ran up behind the other and yanked them down to the ground.  Here they giggled, laughed, tossed the snow in the air and let it fall into their faces - starting the giggling anew.  Tongues poked out of mouths to lick the mysterious white fluff that was sticking to their mittens.  Two sets of eyes twinkled, cheeks got rosy with color, noses dripped, and as their smiles widened so did the joy in my heart as I watched them experience nature.

My beautiful girls knew exactly what they were missing with the absence of the white stuff this season. The second they set foot outdoors they immediately set their imaginations free - weaving a tapestry of tales and mysterious worlds that only a child could understand.  At times they drew the boys into their magic, sometimes they drifted off on their own to explore the powdered sugared world around them.  Their mittens became sno-cones and they were the owners of a small shop, the plants became fairy hideaways and they were the frosters.  Animal hideouts were carved, songs were sung, bodies twirled, and hugs were given.  

It was like the snow had blanketed our tiny front yard with a sprinkling of good will - not a tattle, squabble, or unkind phrase was spoken throughout the entire morning.  My four children were ambassadors of peace, letting the muffled morning air transport them to a magical time and place that they gleefully shared together - each happy that the other was there with them.

As the noon hour drew near I went inside to make the standard hot chocolate - just as my mom had always done for us.  We pulled each pink cheeked child inside, peeled off wet clothes onto a pile in the foyer, and sent our snow bunnies into the kitchen where their warm treats were waiting for them.  The warm milk made three of the four more accommodating then before - but Jack, removed from his magical mystery world, became tired in the way that many do when they played outside all morning.  Quickly we changed diapers, held potty stops and ushered all four upstairs for long winter naps.  But not before the girls could share one last moment of goodwill - a chocolate covered kiss.

A big thank you to mother nature for gifting us this lovely interlude to our countless weekends spent indoors.  I know four little kiddos that are oh so eager for a repeat performance sometime soon!