November 18, 2008

Today marks the first day the "damn, its cold outside season" here. For me, this is marked by it being now the season to don tights under my jeans. For the kids, the appeal of playing outside has just been utterly deflated. Poor Liam, Mr. "I can hear mommy whisper the word 'outside' from across the room" was utterly heartbroken after we took a quick 10 minute walk to the grocery store and back. Being a toddler, he refused to wear mittens and a hat and surprisingly kept on refusing the blanket I tried to wrap around him while he was in the stroller. He seemed subdued when we arrived at the grocery store, but perked up when Finn convinced me that cookies from the bakery were needed for snacks on the way home. When we finally got home, poor Liam's little nose and fingers were red and he was in tears as I let him out the stroller---I could see the anguish in his face---this is the time when he normally makes a run for it down the sidewalk away from the house, with a sly, catch me if you can glance behind to mommy as he gets further away---but instead he looked forlornly back at me and trudged up the front steps. Inside the house, he broke down and bawled and I comforted him knowing that he must have felt so betrayed by his great buddy "the outside" to have it turn so cold he no longer wanted to be there.