I'm what they call an inside person. Especially in the winter. Give me a book, a fire, and some coffee, and I'll see you in April. Let’s be honest, even in the summer you’re more likely to see me inside doing craft, baking cookies and organizing closets than see me outside at the beach. It’s not to say I don’t go outside, it’s just not always my first choice.
So when it comes to the kids, I'll build a tower with blocks, teach them to make pancakes, or make elaborate art projects. That’s where my strengths lie. But when they want to go play in the snow, I usually let Tom take the lead. He’s one of those people who actually like the cold, so why not?
And then my toddler started begging: "My go outside Mama! No Dah! Dah stay inside! My outside Mama! Peas!" Apparently he’s starting to notice that it’s always his Dad that goes outside with him. And he has a lot of fun when that happens, but he was making himself known - he was ready for Mama to join him out in the snow.
I didn't want to go outside. It was super cold and snowy, and I was already shivering inside the house. But I need to remember that someday he won't be begging me to spend time with him. A day will come where I won’t be his first or second or even third choice. He’ll be telling me to go away instead of cheering when I say yes to spending some time with him outside.
So outside we went. We bundled up and got our watering cans (because remember it was a two year old dictating our activity here…) and marched around in the snow. We looked at turkey tracks in the snow, we kicked snow with our boots, and we waved to Tom and G who were inside eating tacos. And before long he was too cold and we went inside with a very happy toddler.
And honestly I had fun. Of course I did, I was with a kid who was happy to just be spending time with me. Maybe I’ll do it again.
