A Snowy Day

More snow is headed our way. As if the blizzard last weekend were not enough, we are under a winter storm watch today and again on Thursday of this week. I have no idea where we are supposed to put more snow. As it stands, we have piles of snow as tall as me lining both sides of our street. In the city of Minneapolis, we are no longer allowed to park on both sides of the street. From now until April, we are only allowed to to park one the odd side of the street. Talk about a pain in the rear end! I am not a fan of the snow. It is only December and I am SO ready for spring.

Despite my fervent objections to more snow, my children are loving it. Actually, let me clarify. Two of my children are loving it. Nicholas...ummm...not so much. As a matter of fact, Nicholas cannot stand the snow. He has no desire to play in it. He has no desire to touch it. As a matter of fact, he will cry hysterically if he inadvertently gets snow on him when walking to the car.

When we received our first good snow of the season a few weeks back, we took all three kids sledding. Sophie and Lucas loved it. I lost count of how many times they went down the hill. Nicholas, however, went down once and then was pretty much done. He stood at the top of the hill the entire time and complained that he was cold. When we tried to get him to sled, he responded with a simple, "No thank you." By the time we were finished, Nicholas' whining had desolved into tears. He was cold. He was wet. He had snow in his boots. He had snow in his face. His gloves kept falling off. All things that are typical for a day of playing in the snow. Any other kid would have taken it all in stride. Nicholas, however, was beside himself. As we drove home, we took off his boots and gloves and wrapped his hands and feet in blankets trying to calm his hysterics. He almost immediately announced, through chattering teeth, that he never wanted to go sledding again.

Since the sledding incident, Nicholas has refused to go outside and play in the snow. Any time there has been a mere suggestion of playing outside, Nicholas will vehemently refuse to go. He simply wants to stay inside and play the Wii while Sophie and Lucas play outside. So that is what we have been doing. Ruanita will take Sophie and Lucas outside. Nicholas and I will sit inside, in the comfort of our warm, dry living room and play video games.

So what is one to do with a Minnesotan who hates winter? That's like a Southerner who hates fried chicken. Or a gay man who hates show tunes. It's just not natural. I suppose perhaps Nicholas is channeling his inner Kentuckian. Maybe he just has a little too much Southern blood coursing through his veins to be a successful Midwesterner. I did finally have to hide his sandals from him a couple of weeks ago because he insisted on wearing them, despite the cold. He hates jeans. He abhors coats and gloves. He wants to wear sandals and shorts year round. Left to his own devices, I am afraid he would lose all of his extremities to frostbite. He appears to be simply out of his element here in Minnesota, though he has lived here his entire life. Despite seemingly being against his very nature, Nicholas will eventually have to embrace the cold and snow and ice. His pasty little body needs the vitamin D from the sun. He can't go five months without fresh air and sunshine. If he doesn't develop at least a disgruntled acceptance of winter, as I have, I am afraid he is going to have a long, dark, cold childhood trapped in the house half of the year.

My poor little Kentuckian trapped in the body of a Minnesotan. My poor little trans-climated child. My little tranny. My Nicholas.