S’No Fun

See what I did there, with the title?  Clever pun, eh?  And not predictable AT ALL…

…Anyhoo – We had a ‘snow day’ yesterday.  It wasn’t completely legitimate because our eldest’s son’s school was open and we live within walking distance, but in our defence, the snow was VERY deep, too deep in which to push a pram or for little legs to walk and the conditions near middle son’s pre-school were hazardous so we couldn’t get him in anyway.  So we stayed home instead, playing on Skylanders (THAT’S how much I wanted to avoid doing housework).  Then my husband came home early so we decided to take the kids sledging.

Picture the scene: eyes shining bright with anticipation, peeping out from beneath warm hats.  Warm bodies bundled in several layers of clothes that will afford immunity from the cold.  Deep, fluffy, glaringly white snow; a smooth, chilly canvas to be painted with fun, family memories.  A young dog, barking with excitement and leaving a perfect trail of paw prints in its wake.  Flashes of colours as sledges of various bright hues speed down the hillside carrying the precious cargo of happy, contented children.  Joyous laughter being carried on the frosty air.

Sounds idyllic, doesn’t it?  Well it bloody wasn’t.

This was OUR reality: eyes full of tears and noses that streamed snot from beneath warm hats as they moaned about having to drag the sledge up the steep hill AGAIN.  Bodies bundled in several layers of clothes that soon became wet and cold and clung to shivering bodies like an uncomfortable second skin.  Crap, powdery snow that suddenly gave way to uneven ground, perfect for spraining little (and big) ankles.  A young dog, barking incessantly at everybody’s every move and leaving a perfect trail of shit in its wake (that had to be picked up from deep snow with gloved hands (NOT an easy task). Flashes of colour as small bodies flew arse over tit when the sledge, wedged in the too-deep snow, sent them catapulting through the air to land in ungainly heaps.  Wailing and hysterical cries of ‘I want to go hooommme!’ being carried on the bitterly cold air.

See? Snow – s’no fun really, is it? 🙂