Bad at Winter

So here's the deal. We live in South Dakota. It's winter--complete with snow on the ground--for nearly 50% of the year (or at least that's what it feels like). And aside from a short stint in Iowa for college (which let's be honest, is pretty much the same as SoDak anyway), I've lived in South Dakota my whole life. So you would think I'd have this whole winter thing down. But to be honest, I don't. In fact, I'm pretty terrible at it. And that's been increasingly evident as the boys have gotten older. William will be four in April, and he has never been sledding. He's never skied (downhill or cross country), never ice skated, never snowshoed, never really spent any extended time outside in the winter for any reason. And before you think that he's too young for those "sports", rest assured that I have friends who have taken their kids William's age (or younger!) to do all those activities. Meanwhile, William doesn't even have a proper pair of snow pants. Or gloves, for that matter. The only ones he has are unlined fleece ones that get wet pretty quickly. Which we've discovered the handful of times we've played out in the front yard. And by "we" I usually mean Darrell and the boys, because I usually find a reason that it makes more sense for me to be in the house getting something done than outside playing. Which is weird. Because I grew up sledding. I grew up downhill skiing. I grew up having snow ball fights. And for the most part, I'm fairly certain I enjoyed all of those things. But as an adult, going to play outside in the winter seems like a chore. There's so many layers to put on (and no matter how many I layer on I always seem to get cold!), there's snow that gets everywhere, and there's always (always!) a mitten or a boot falling off. Plus there's all the wet stuff that gets dragged in the house and makes a mess. Not to mention the fact that buying decent quality outdoor gear isn't exactly cheap--especially with as quickly as the boys outgrow stuff.

I don't mean to be a fun-hater in the winter. In fact, I pride myself on finding lots of fun (indoor!) activities to do with the boys. But thankfully Darrell (the North Carolinian, of all things!) seems to have a better tolerance than I do for playing in the snow or my boys might really never get to experience at least a fraction of the fun that can be had in the snow.