Snowmageddon Time

Does anybody else see #snowmageddon and immediately start singing Armageddon Time by the Clash in their head? Just me? Ok then.

We’ve had a lot of snow here in Boston lately. A lot. A metric shit-ton of snow (that’s a technical term). Last week, we got probably two and a half feet. Today, we’ve probably had another foot or so. That doesn’t include the random “dustings” here and there. My arms are going to be absolutely cut by the end of this winter… because my toddler has no desire to be buried under all of this snow and keeps insisting that I carry her everywhere. I can’t say that I fault her for that one.

(If you can’t go for a run, you might as swing your toddler around a little bit extra, right?)

I ended up working from home a couple of days last week, and today I just straight up took the day off (Pats in the Super Bowl + Impending Snowstorm of Doom™ = I think I’d prefer to stay in my pjs, if you don’t mind). We’re lucky  enough to have a house with enough floor space for Lilian to run around in circles a little. And I’ve been encouraging her to move around, by saying things like “I’m a car, vroom vroom, I bet you can’t catch me!”

(Bonus points for making the red inactivity line on my Garmin fitness tracker go away.)

But even the mellowest of kids starts to get a little squirrely if you keep them in the house for too long. Which is why Operation Wintertime Indoctrination is now in full effect. You’re a New Englander, kid. Let’s embrace the snow.

First step: snow shoes and shoveling.

I don’t know how much loft those things actually give her, but they do make her excited about running around outside in the middle of it. And isn’t that what they’re all about? Bonus points for not having any sharp edges that could poke into me when she eventually gets too cold and asks me to carry her home. Extra bonus points that she still thinks shoveling is a fun reward for good behavior.

Second step: sledding.

To be honest, I thought sledding would be an easier sell. This kid is fun-loving and naturally adventurous. We did a good job building it up on the way to the park, but then she took that first run down the (tiny, tiny, OMG tiny) hill and popped up at the bottom yelling “too scary!” C’mon, kid! This hill is all of twelve feet long and we started you at the halfway point. But, when the going gets tough… the tough take turns going down the hill on their own and yelling “wheee! wheee!” in a very pointed fashion.

(At least that’s what the tough do when it’s me and Kristian.)

If taking extra runs down a sledding hill is good parenting, sign me up! Kristian and I had a pretty good time, and Lilian seemed to be enjoying herself as well. After a few runs, she asked to sit on our laps to go down. And then she was allll about the sledding. We were probably at it for at least an hour. And, by the end, she was asking to go down the hill all by herself and yelling “again! again! one! more! time!”

So… Snow shoeing: check. Shoveling: check. Sledding: check.

And, if all else fails, there’s always the ever-popular option of saying “fuck it, it’s still snowing outside. let’s take selfies on the couch.”