Let It Snow 'Cause I'll Never Be A Good Mom Anyhow

Yes, it is snowing! And wonder of wonders our satellite internet is still connected! All during the rain showers it wasn't working but during the snow it is? Ohhhh, the snow clouds are coming from a different direction? Whatever! I have internet and its snowing. AHHHH! Magic.

Great story over on CCM. I remember hearing about that and it reminds me of when we took our first two children, a daughter and son, sledding, somewhere on one of the logging roads. Bart and I with Bart's sisters, Janice and Joyce and their husbands, Jim and Brian, respectively.

We arrived at the spot and built a large bonfire from dried wood brought from home and added wood from downed trees left there for the wood cutters with permits. Snow was thick on the ground and draping each tree like baptismal gowns. Everything was glittering and "pristine" just as a woods decked in new fallen snow is supposed to be. That is, before you begin sledding on it.

I believe we had one sled and then an inner tube for each one of us. Sleds are supposedly easier to steer, however for some it is like the difference between a manual and a shift. A tube is like a manual, hands on it responds better and you have more control over it. You lean one way and it goes that way, lean the other and it goes that way. Lean forward and it goes faster, drag your feet and it slows. Yeah, sometimes it spins but that's what makes it funnnn!

So, we head up to the top of the hill and form this long chain with the sled in front and the inner tubes following, each holding on to the feet of the person in front. We are laughing at the impossibility of hanging on to each other as we get going real fast and end up flying apart, banking around the corner of a snow bank to come to a rest on the flat a short distance from the bonfire.

Each time we took a run in this manner we were making the run smoother, slicker. After about four runs we decide we are done with the sled trains and we are going to go down singly. The children, Katrina and Matthew, clamour to go first on the sled. For some reason, six adults figure this is a mighty fine idea, there could not possibly be any repercussions from two children plummeting down this logging road on their own trying to steer this sled.

We did have the good sense not to start them off as high up on the hill as we had been starting for the sled train but it was still about halfway up the hill. Our logic was that we wanted them to have a good, fast memorable ride. Yes, they still remember it, vividly. Although, not sooo fondly. I, on the otherhand, can hardly recall it without peeing my pants. Laughter, accompanied with peeing of pants is always good news although not necessarily so for the pee-er.

You see, in my family we greet disasters with laughter. Nervous, uncontrollable, laughter. One time, story for another blog entry, my mother lost her face ( literally) and when my sister was telling us about it she was laughing so hard on the phone as soon as I heard her voice I almost fainted. Laughter on a phone call, in our family, is baaaad news.

On the other hand, we laugh at near misses, too, and we laugh for fun. You just have to learn how to interpret the sound. Belly laughter or squeals or high peals nearing lunacy? The day of the sledding accident was belly laughter although my daughter swears it should have been high peals as it was the day she lost her ability to be a teen model.

My son was in front steering, he did and does continue to have the quicker reflexes, with our daughter sitting in back. They started down the hill and it quickly became apparent that it was much too slick and they had started up much too high. They were headed for the banking corner and there was no way they were going to make it, Matthew just didn't have enough experience to make the turn. They hadn't learned to work together, in tandem, leaning into the turn.

"Jump," we all screamed, "jump!"

As they shot by, my daughter turned her head to us, "HEEEEEEELLLLLPPPPP!" she wailed, ever so pathetically. My son kept his head forward, focusing intently on the run, not realizing yet that he couldn't make the turn without the full participation of his sledding challenged sister who was rigid with fear behind him.

They hit the bank and sailed over it up, up into the air landing in a pine tree and bending it backwards. In turn it sprang forward, again launching them into the air where they cartwheeled over and over until they landed in a snow bank. It was the most athletic thing I had ever seen my daughter do. Matthew, having played football and baseball, knew how to lay there, moaning, however his sister sprang up instantly, hopping from one foot to the other. "I want to go home, I want to go home, I want to go home, NOW!" she was screaming, over and over.

Katrina literally looked like she had run into a porcupine or a cactus bush. She had needles sticking out of her coat and her snow pants and her gloves. She had needles sticking out of her cheeks, and her nose, and even out of her eyelids. And she was hopping back and forth, from foot to foot and her horrible, horrible mother was laughing so hard she couldn't even comfort her. "I broke my nose," she wailed! "My eyes are blinded," she sobbed! And the more she said the harder I laughed.

I was laughing so hard at my poor children my sisters-in-law thought I had put something into the hot chocolate. They checked it before pouring some for my daughter. Then, they began plucking her, which set me off again. When I finally regained my composure Katrina wouldn't let me hug her, for some reason finding little comfort in my arms! I was voted bad mommy for the day and not allowed any hot chocolate.

To this day Katrina doesn't find this story funny in the least. Just ask her. She's the new part time librarian at CCC. She'll just love it that you read this story. But tell her you think I'm an awesome mom.

Oh, we homeschooled and the lesson for that day was when to trust and when to use your own judgement(sarcasm). At least that's the lesson I was trying to convey, I wonder what they learned? They both have travelled the world and Katrina got her first degree before she was 22 (Matthew's still enjoying college). She said it was because I always made it easy to leave home. I wonder what she meant by that?