My kids were so delighted today that it finally snowed enough flakes to make a snowball out of.
So I did my mothering duty and spent the exhausting hour that it takes to get them all bundled up - making five fingers fit in five finger holes, or helping the little thumbs to find their slot in the mitten, and stuffing legs into snowsuits. Lance took a little more stuffing as he is wearing the same snowsuit that he has had for the past 4 years. I've calculated that to be how long a child has to wear it to get our money's worth out of it in this mild climate. Extra socks were layered on and some unnecessarily clunky snow boots were zipped up and off they tromped to the (barely) white wonderland of our backyard.
I put Bridger down for his nap and went to the front to shovel the driveway and sidewalk. In the moments that I paused in my shoveling I could hear laughter coming from the backyard. Just as I finished, however, the giggling had morphed into bawling. I went around back to find the victim. It was Sadie.
"What happened?" I asked. In between her sobs I made out, "I was. . . sled. . .Lance. . . Eva. . .on top. . . slide. . . BONKED MY NOSE *sob* *sob* *sob*"
Snow time had come to an end. Everyone came inside for the hour of de-bundling, followed by warm baths, some hot chocolate, cuddling under a blanket and watching a movie. I took that time to ask Eva and Lance what had happened. Immediately the darting eyes and defensive excuses started flying out of their mouths. Apparently, the children had decided to "play sled". Sadie (the most vulnerable) became the pick for the sled. They had her lay faced-down on top of the slide, looking down the slide head first. Lance and Eva then sat on top of the "sled" and rode it down the slide where the sled came to an abrupt stop -- into the ground.
I explained to Lance and Eva that that was a very poor choice and a dangerous one too. Eva said that Sadie wanted it. Lance threw up his hands and said that if they could see into the future, then they wouldn't have chosen it. Glad to see that even a 7 year-old's hindsight is 20-20.
In the meantime, if Sadie's nose seems a little bit larger and slightly blueish for the next couple weeks - just don't say anything.