Parenting reaches a whole different level when it’s winter.
Yes, it’s challenging to get a baby out of the house. You have to make sure that the diaper bag is packed, that the baby has a relatively clean diaper, and make sure that the car has the right car seat in it.
Getting a five-year-old out of the house in some ways isn’t any easier. If you are lucky, then the kid actually wants to leave the house and it’s not so bad, but if he doesn’t, good luck. If a baby doesn’t want to leave the house, you just pick it up while it screams and cries and get him in the car. While this is possible with a five-year-old, it takes significantly more strength, and effort, and risk to your own health. As a parent you do what you can to avoid this situation by preparing them far ahead of time, telling them what they have to look forward to, treating them with “car candy,” or “car snacks.” Hopefully that works because if it doesn’t, then it can get ugly fast.
Now add into this preparation hat, gloves, snow-pants, boots, and winter jacket that you have to put on, and you have to put on your children. While you can take of articles of clothing after the car heats up, your children can’t. Oh, and not all coats are safe for children to wear in car seats. So, what do you do? Sometimes you run out and warm up the car, then wrap your kid in a blanket, carry the baby out, unwrap them, and then put then in the car. This works…sometimes. Another solution is to put the baby without a jacket in a car seat and wrap him in blanket. Then at some point when I’m at a red light after the car has warmed up, I reach back and pull the blanket off the baby to keep him from overheating.
Ollie can dress himself for the going outside in the snow, but it takes a while, and Ethan being a baby, needs help. Just like how baby socks don’t stay on, his baby snow boots, which are REALLY cute, don’t stay on either. Usually I get all of them dressed, then myself, and then head out to the car. Ethan I usually carry to the car, but Ollie. Oh Ollie. Have you ever seen a 5-year-old walk around in the snow? There is no sense of urgency nor a sense of direction. The magic of snow and winter makes them completely incapable of getting from the front door into the car at a reasonable speed.
Winter also means that sometimes even with being fully dressed, like last week, it is simply too cold to go outside. The days are shorter, and the world seems more tired. Little things you do for your children like get them children’s Tylenol from the drug store take far more energy and time in the snow.
It is all finite though. Winter as it comes, does eventually go. Nights may be cold and dark, but bedtime stories snuggled under covers are warms and feel safe. The cold saps my energy and spirit, but the giggles of my children, and the barks of Buffy playing in the snow energizes me.
I don’t love winter, but I got to say, I do love seeing my children enjoy the winter.
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