Winter has been a hard season for the 2 days a week that I care for 3 little ones. It's just so much easier to let them run around in a sunny park than to deal with cabin fever or all that is involved in venturing outside. Here's a typical internal dialogue for me on these days:
Snow suits on. Nathan's pants are on backwards, oh well, don't disrupt the flow. Snow boots. Stay calm. Shove the foot in. Ignore the child running the other direction, you can herd him when you're done with this set of boots. Hats on. Okay, I can velcro your hat. Will you stop crying after that? Mittens on. Where is Zen's thumb? Was that mittens flying across the room? I thought I just helped everyone put them on? You want me to snap your jacket all they way to the top? I hope you're not so hot in your jacket that you fall asleep in the car. Oh, yeah... my gear. Okay, out the door. Down the slippery steps. Hold on. There's the icy patch. In the carseats. Ugh, these straps are too tight with all the layers. Push. Shove. Snap, snap, snap. You're hand's squished? Where is it? Okay. We're in. Now... do I have my keys? I hope so, the front door's already shut.
Amidst this high intensity season we had a special moment today. We did eventually make it to the Nature Preserve and saw a deer in the distance. We stayed very quiet and watched her walk closer and closer. Finally she stopped in front of us and looked straight at us. We shared quite a long a moment of eye contact- enough for me to stare, take a picture and stare some more before she ran off. In a busy day where eye contact is at an all-time minimum... this deer reminded me to stop and stare.
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