i'm all cracked lips, dry scalp and unshaven legs. i simply don't have any time for myself, and you can see it easily at first glance of this picture my mom took during last week's imbolc snow shoeing trip at Quarry Hill. and yet, this nursing, teething toddler and my precocious four year old are my greatest gifts in life, no doubt. right now, getting these two bundled up and outside seems to be my biggest mission, and it's one i am challenged with daily. i love winter, i really do. but i can barely stand the forcing of mittens on little hands, and that says nothing for getting them to stay on once we're out. the temptation to touch that beautiful, white, sparkly, fluffy stuff with one's bare fingers is just too much, for esther, especially. so that, even though she jumps up and down at the prospect of going out, after 10 minutes, her little fingers are so cold that she's begging to go back inside. thelma, on the other hand, could stay out for hours. but it's not the active adventure she's after. she loves to sit and dig in, build with, shovel, and roll around in the snow. when i do talk her into a winter hike, i feel i've hardly gotten started before she's complaining about how much her legs hurt. i can usually keep her moving for a bit, but i try not to push her past her limit, as i know this will surely turn my beloved walks in the woods into a chore for her.
the thought has crossed my mind, i tell you, that it would be quite wonderful to have a mother's helper in my home a couple of hours each day. to give me the time to walk through the woods in silence, or maybe even pluck my eye brows. (and of course there's that Y membership that's sitting dormant.) but, who am i kidding? there is not a line in the budget for a mother's helper, and i doubt my dear husband would be supportive of such an expenditure if there was. i guess we'll just carry on with things, the bundling, the whining at the bundling, and the glorious exclamations and marveling at such a simply exquisite white world that make it all worth it.
1 comment:
silo used to complain in the same way & didn't want to walk very far. recently we've started playing a game along the path where we walk (not in the woods, mind you) - where "the bus" (stoller) drops him off and he runs up ahead to a given point on the path to the next "bus stop" and then when i catch-up he hops back in. we do this again and again over the course of 2+ miles so that i can get a walk in. The amazing thing is that he has built-up more endurance now and he can go longer and further than he ever used to before - and now he asks if we can go for a walk!
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