Mean mommy & mittens

Living in Indiana I concede that we have some unpredictable weather. I see no use in complaining about snowfalls or insane fluctuations in temperatures. If anything, I think ice storms and salty roads just make me appreciate spring even more. Today I am finding the sunshine on the snowdrifts beautiful. However, I do not like that this winter weather has made me into “mean mommy”.

Mean mommy is a persona I have to take on every single time my son goes outside as he does not want to ever come back inside. He absolutely loves mashing snow. He likes to knock icicles off of cars, trailers, trucks…you know whatever is in the driveway. Ultimately he will play and play and shows no interest in returning to the house despite red face, fingers, and probably toes. Too many times this year I have had to drag him kicking and screaming back inside, where he sits and sulks at the back door. His tears break my heart.

Several things impede my best efforts to bundle my little 17 month old up. First of all, I am bothered by the whole concept of mittens. Who prefers having a paw of sorts over moveable fingers? I never liked wearing them so I completely understand how Hudson feels when after a couple of minutes he tries to shake them off. Thank goodness for mitten clips. If I could find regular gloves in his size I would buy stock in them.

Since his feet are now too big for hand-me-down snow boots that worked last month , I also constantly worry that he is going to freeze his little toes right off. Yesterday Josh reminded me of his mother’s trick of putting feet in breadbags to keep them dry. After Hudson’s initial perplexed confusion, he was game and they worked like a charm, although he did gabber on for awhile staring at his legs! I let him stay outside as long as he wanted.

Of course, I, his trusty chaperone, was a popsicle by the time he was “all done”, but the nap he took afterwards was WORTH it!