LOVING WINTER

Kristin Ervin

I still feel like a little girl every time the first snow falls.  It gives me butterflies that dance with the excitement as each snowflake falls from the sky.  I remember looking out the window watching the wintry display like a re-run of a favorite cartoon.  It was magical and beautiful.  The grey earth shimmered in a cloak of white frost and I was Queen Frostine.

There are certain things that delight children, and seeing the first snow is definitely one.  Christmas and Hanukah bring an anticipation that keeps children sleepless and on their best behavior in hopes of earning great reward.  There’s sledding and snowball fights, snowmen and ice skating.  Winter is cold and the days are short, but not short on fun.  Especially in Michigan where winter’s climate thrives.  Loving winter is natural in children.  They rarely feel the cold because they are so fueled up with the excitement winter brings.  How many kids do you know who complain about “cabin fever”?  

Children don’t look at winter as a hassle.  Adults think about the cold and associate it with skyrocketing heat bills.  Kids, on the other hand, think of building blanket forts to hole-up in, next to a roaring fire.  Getting kids dressed in heavy coats, snow pants, boots, mittens, hats and scarves is time consuming and hectic.  Yet, how can you deny a child’s natural desire to go out and roll in the snow, make a snow angel or catch snowflakes on their tongue?  Snow is a toy from Mother Nature and children know a million ways to play with it.  You can even make ice cream with it (as long as it’s still white!).  The fun doesn’t stop when the kids come in from playing outdoors either.  Hot chocolate with marshmallows warms up cold toes and pink cheeks.

A winter’s night sky holds a magnificent display of twinkling stars.  Family walks around the holidays are a great way to see how everyone decorates their home in their own festive style.  Taking a walk on a quiet, cold winter’s night is also a peaceful way to wind down the day.

Bedtime means the comfort of heavy bedding and flannel sheets.  Winter’s cold air acts like a sleeping pill.  The darkest, coldest nights are perfect conditions for hibernating.  As we sleep, nature sleeps.  The ice-covered trees stand bare and still.  The ground is hard and the sunlight is not as intense.  Everything is on hold until spring.  It’s a less active time that offers us opportunity to reflect, rejuvenate and to snuggle up close to the ones we hold dear.

My children love the snow.  Now when the first snow falls, they yell out, “Mom, it’s snowing, it’s snowing!”  It’s a joyful announcement that I too remember calling out to my mom.  It’s a tradition for her to call me when the first snow arrives, just to say she knows how happy I am and she’s thinking of me.  Looking through the eyes of a child, falling in love with winter is inevitable.

Kristin Ervin is a writer and a stay-at-home mother of four.  She and her husband reside in Southeast Michigan.