When you’re from Wisconsin like my family is, you have to have some thick blood. The winters here are long and cold. People here are well versed on driving on icy roads and having fun in the snow. A blizzard doesn’t scare us and school closings are few and far between. We are tough.
I shouldn’t actually lump us all together. I used to be tough. I could stay outside for hours upon end playing in the below 0 degree weather when I was a kid. After many years of extended outings and near frost bite several times; my feet and hands ache if I spend more than 15 minutes out in the conditions. I tend to stay home when the roads are bad after so many spin outs in my lifetime (I almost always got them under control though because I am a Wisconsinite after all) to keep the kids and I out of harm’s way.
My kids have proven this year that their blood is getting thicker. In years past I would send them outside and 10 minutes later they would be back in, dragging snow all over the house and requesting hot chocolate immediately to warm them up. I thought I had produced wimps and that they had their Dad’s New Mexican blood coursing through their veins instead of mine.
Last week, Iris and Bency built snowmen outside for 1 ½ hours. I gave them their leftover Halloween candy and they decorated their snowmen with Starburst eyes, Whopper mouths and whatever else they could find.
Iris and Bency outside building snowmen
The other day I took my kids and nieces sledding at my parent’s house. Everyone stayed out playing except for me and Cesar. I was cold after 15 minutes and Cesar’s face got dragged down the length of the hill when he wasn’t quite on the sled all the way when it started traveling downhill. He called it quits right after that.
All of the kids going sledding at Grandma’s
My two older kids really earned their Wisconsin wings yesterday. They were outside for 2 hours and Iris only came in once to ask me for a plastic bowl and piece of paper.
Apparently after reading a book called Snow Babies they were inspired to build a fort for snow babies in our yard. Snow babies are similar to fairies but only live in the….snow. They made a sign that said, “All Snow babies Welcome! If you come inside, please put some coins in the bowl.”
The Snow Baby fort
And if the fort wasn’t enough for the snow babies they also built a wall around the perimeter of the yard to keep out the “Snow Baby Monster” (the Snow Baby Monster was completely made up by them because there are no monsters in the book we read).
The Walls of Safety
In addition, Iris made booby traps (her words) out of icicles to fortify the safety of the snow babies. She said the Snow Monster would slip on the icicles that were placed strategically at different entrance points around the wall.
Iris building a booby trap
So yes, my children have finally got that thick Wisconsin blood. Snow and below 0 degree temperatures will not get in their way of having fun…until they get old like me and a warm heated house, blanket and a good book is equally exciting!
Iris and Bency
Motherhood Is An Art 