Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow

We live in California. For most of my life I thought it was a myth that California was sunny because we live on the coast. You need a winter coat and heavy blanket to celebrate the Fourth of July and you can usually expect rain and sludge for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Not so this year. The weather has been so unusually warm that my lilies and roses are confused and still in bloom. The toads haven’t gone into hibernation yet and the flies have yet to vamoose. Only recently has it begun to get nippy at night, but the days still haven’t gotten cold enough to qualify for winter. I was just about ready to accept the fact that we were merely going to have a mildly warm overcast season when my two-year old son exclaimed from the hallway, by the laundry closet, that it was snowing.

Do you know how amazingly sticky laundry detergent is and how easily it adheres to a little wet chubby fist?

“What did you do?!?”

“I make snow!”

“I see that.” I didn’t have the heart to break the news to him. He was too busy trying to form a snowball by pouring scoop after scoop in the same spot. “Look, Momma, I make snow mountain.”

What’s a mom to do? I let him play in it for an hour. Talk about clean fun. He had a ball! I didn’t realize my son could write his name in the snow—it’s amazing what he can do with his finger once he takes it out of his nose. In no time at all the pretty white scenery turned a dirty gray. Just like the real stuff.

Now I ask you, if laundry soap gets dirty, does it matter? Won’t it just clean itself when you pour it in the next load? And as long as your kid doesn’t eat it, what’s the harm? You can just toss him in the tub and he can make his own bubble bath. Tell him to scoot around and agitate the water and throw in a few socks and some underwear. Get your kids and your clothes washed at the same time.

My son caught my attention. In the middle of all this stress to get ready for celebrating Christmas, he showed me that such joy doesn’t have to wait. The simplest little things and the total absorption in them is what it’s all about.

So I invite you to take a few minutes today, sit back, and enjoy some hot cocoa and gingerbread. The kids can manage for a few minutes on their own….

“Uh-oh! Momma, I make snow fly up!”

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Send comments to LisaBarker@jellymom.com. Jelly Mom is syndicated by Martin-Ola Press / Parent To Parent.

About the Author

Lisa Barker writes the award-winning syndicated parenting humor column, Jelly Mom™ - a weekly feature in The Salinas Californian (circulation 19,000) and monthly in School News Roll Call parent’s magazine (circulation 323,000+). Jelly Mom™ has also been printed in The Eureka Reporter, Omaha Family, Mount Shasta Herald Supersaver and Llano Estacado Family Resources in Texas.

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