Snow day

My body began to tire, as we trudged up our backyard hill for what felt like the 100th time today. My feet were cold, my pants snowy, and my hands were going numb. The cold snowflakes cascaded down upon our heads as I continued to carry both sleds up our steep hill. Both my son and daughter were ignoring the cold, as all children do, but as I age, the cold penetrates my body deeper than all the years prior.

The trees around us are blanketed thick with heavy snow, the air cuts against my cheeks as the wind blows around, and the sky is darkened by the storm upon us.

My admiring thought is interrupted by the sounds of plastic grazing the icy grounds beneath my feet. My two children come barreling down my backyard hill before me, waiting to be stopped by my skillful hands. My daughter bails off her sled before she's able to reach me and skids across the snow past my knelt down body, then, my son lands right into my hands. They both drop back into the snow and laugh, as they soak up the joys of childhood. Before jumping back up, and asking to do it again.

We continued this process for another hour or so; me walking the sleds up the hill, then running back down the hill and waiting for them at the bottom. My daughter taking her time to help her little brother onto the sled and adjusting him accordingly. She stands behind him as she gently nudges him over the lip, before he soars down the hill. He tilts himself backwards and tightly grips the sides of sled as he yells, "weeeeee." She then takes a running start and dives onto the sled, resting her knees onto the plastic, and zig zags behind him, quickly catching up. He squeals with laughter as he peeks behind, then pushes his knuckles deeper into the snow to gain speed. They're both eventually caught and safely secure by their momma, who adores the sounds of their laughter and continues to exert all my stored energy, just to hear those sounds a few dozen more times.   

As I wait back at the bottom, watching them fumble with their sleds at the top, I'm nostalgic for a moment... Remembering how different things were, only a year ago. That this time last year, my son hated the snow. He literally cried if he had to stand in it, or near it. Then, my daughter and I were always left waiting for his nap time, in order to go sledding in the snow. But, only using the small hump that dropped onto our patio, by our backdoor, so we weren't far away. Then, on the days that my husband was home, I was forced to not only walk the steep hill, but to slide down it on the sled with my daughter. Because last year, she wouldn't ride the sled down the hill by herself. 

Once again, my thought is interrupted by my two children fearlessly racing each other down the hill, conversing the whole way down, before being stopped again by my hands. Then, my daughter and son, who are all snow covered, jump into my arms, causing me to fall back onto the cold snow. They lie next to me and on me, laughing until their faces match their red colored cheeks. I join in with laughter too, not because laying in cold snow is hilarious, but because being with my two children brings me more joy than anything else... And even cold, wet snow can't ruin that.