I got a lovely card from Marji recently for Leap Day, on which she wished that I would get to do something I really want to do for the "extra" day.
It wasn't looking good: I had a meeting at 9 am, and phone interviews for a job search until 5:10 pm. Hit the roads, but it had been snowing - big, fluffy, wet flakes - for hours, and the roads were clogged. Squeaked in to afterschool program at 6:04, and I missed being the last parent by 3 minutes.
But, I made it home safely. The kids were fine. It is Friday night, and I don't have any morning plans aside from hitting my skiis before the snow gets too slushy tomorrow. So we got to the sledding hill at their school by 7 pm, and I started up the hill with kids following and sleds in tow.
We sledded, and the girls made a "house" (not a fort - no high walls - but chairs and tables and low-walled rooms). I practiced headstands for yoga, figuring what better surface to land on that soft, wet snow? (note: I got a lot of practice, because each headstand lasted less than 1 second) The sledding was a bit slow because the snow was deep and heavy-wet, but the temperature was perfect - right at freezing, and until the snow soaked clean through my snowpants I was toasty warm, even with soaking mittens.
I am clearly not normal. I was the only adult out there sledding. Two other parents sat in their running SUV for the whole 1.5 hours we were out, making an appearance only occasionally. The mom was wearing an ankle length fur-lined coat with heels, makeup, no gloves, no hat. She did not sled. Their dad, wearing jeans, a light jacket, no hat, no gloves, no boots, also did not sled. They seemed annoyed, and when their kids had to speak to them, their kids seemed annoyed, too. I have to wonder what they thought of me doing sprawling, graceless headstand attempts. I must have looked more like a college-age auntie than a mom.
We came in at 8:30, half-starved and fully soaked. I'm just now herding the girls to bed, and it is 9:45. Marji, I got your wish, after all. Happy Leap Night!
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3 comments:
I love the image of you doing headstands in the snow, (and of course you're not normal, but that is why you are interesting!) and I think of the times when I've been at the park with the kids doing the monkey bars myself or jumping rope for my own pleasure. (I was doing that at the beach here in La Rochelle just recently!). What is it about getting older that somehow people seem to equate with having to stay inside and sit on their rear? (in your neighbor's case, in their SUV!!!!! That kills me.) Adult children of the world unite and play!
BRAVO! Leapin' loads of fun. I am hoppy.
Play on!
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