The Snow Bowl

I am not a fan of snow. It’s cold and wet and it turns bad drivers into really, really bad drivers. My kids, on the other hand, love it. Every time it snows they sit on the window sill and watch the flakes and I wait for the dreaded question… “Mom – can we go outside and play in the snow?!?” Nooooooooo!

Before you tell me that I really should change the name of this blog to Mediocre Mama, let me explain two things:

1. My husband is usually the one who takes them outside and plays in the snow with them. He loves pulling them on the sled and building snowmen and teaching them how to make the optimal snowball. The kids love that they get special time with Daddy. I love that I get ten minutes of alone time.

2. I have a four year old and a two year old. They have very different snow tolerances. One will play outside until frostbite sets in, while the other usually lasts about ten minutes. If I spend the 20 minutes it takes to get them bundled up and out the door, I can almost guarantee that after 15 minutes one will be crying to go in and the other will be crying to stay outside.

I had been hoping for a snow-free winter, but that hasn’t worked out so well. To make matters worse, my husband’s work hours have been extra long (he’s usually not home during the light of day), so there’s no playing outside with Daddy when he gets home from work.

During the last big snow, I had an epiphany. Instead of taking them out to the snow, I would bring the snow to them. Thus the “snow bowl” was born. I opened the back door, scooped snow into a bowl for each of them, and let them play contentedly on the kitchen floor. They played for much longer in the kitchen then they would have outside, and I got to sit with a cup of coffee and relax. I’m not sure whether this makes me a genius or just super lazy. As long as everyone is happy, does it matter?

That's right ladies. Not only do I not have to bundle them up, I don't even have to take them out of their pajamas.

The princesses decided to make a few snow angels too.