Swinging in the snow

Like a lot of moms, I end up being the disciplinarian in my house. I'm with the girls most of the day, so keeping them on the straight and narrow falls on my wee shoulders. And yesterday was one of those frustrating days where I spent more of my time trying to keep them in line than enjoying them. By seven o'clock last night all I wanted to do was hop in a tub full of hot, steamy, bubble-filled water.

Right before their bedtime I flicked on the light and saw old man winter had finally arrived in the Pioneer Valley. A little over an inch of the white stuff covered our back yard. Well, I knew the girls needed to see the first real snow of the season, so I called them over. They gazed out the window and the oldest one said, "I wish I could play in it."

And then I did a crazy thing. I got them dressed up and we went out to play.

We had a snowball fight. The little one tried catching snowflakes on her tongue while her older sister laid down in the driveway to make a snow angel. And then we ran into the back yard and decide the weather was so nice, the girls could swing. I pushed them and sang, "I'm swinging in the snow, I'm swinging in the snow," to the tune of Singing in the Rain.

The snow-covered slide seemed to beg for some little person to travel down it and my girls climbed up into the fort and slid down, falling on to their bottoms because they flew so fast. Then it was one more quick snowball fight before stepping onto the front porch to remove our wet clothes.

My oldest daughter--my strong-willed child--who I battle more often than not, then said something I will never forget. "This is the best day of my life!" She shook with excitement, so happy to have experienced this spur of the moment joy.

What a wonderful moment in mothering I would have missed if I had said, "We'll play in the snow tomorrow," instead of taking them out last night. How many other moments like this have I already missed? Yes, the girls went to bed late and I had a spot of trouble getting them to calm down so they could sleep, but those words spoken by my oldest will be forever engrained in my head.

As I sat next to her in bed waiting for her to drift off, she hugged me tight and told me, "This was the funest night of my life!"

"I'm so glad," I replied. And I meant it. With such a simple thing as a nighttime romp in the snow, I gave my daughter the best night of her life...and what mother could complain about being able to do that.