Now, the toddler loves snow. I'm still not such a fan, though she does provide an excuse to build snowmen. I just don't like being excessively cold and damp, and neither does she as it happens. It's all great until she reaches that stage, at which point it's much less fun. Admittedly, we've managed to avoid any excessive tantrums of the 'I'm too cold' variety, so far.
I should give the toddler more credit. She was so excited when she first saw the snow, presumably not remembering last winter. She had a great time playing in my parents' garden, helping build snowmen and snow castles (she filled a bucket with snow, and tipped it up - snow instead of sand). And then she accepted the decision to go back inside when it got too cold. She has a smart head on her shoulders. Just as well really, given she starts nursery next year, on January 5th. Now that's exciting, and scary. I can't quite believe we're at that stage now, but I am looking forward to having my afternoons back. Toddler free shopping and chores. Or maybe even a crappy part time job somewhere. Mmm. A bit of a life for myself in any case, no matter how dull.
Fortunately the nursery is just up the road from us. This is good, not just for convenience, but because the pushchair is now broken. The wheel fell off for the second time, only now the pushchair's not under guarantee anymore. As she wouldn't be needing it for much longer anyway, I made the executive decision to not bother forking out to get it fixed, and just to give it up. Luckily we do live near town and shops and the nursery. Her father's as well. In fact, it's just getting to my parents' that could be fun, and in all fairness, we could get the bus. The toddler would love that. She does love watching the buses. It's yet another of those everyday mundane things that fascinates her so. Oh to find the world so amazing!
Actually, something amazing did happen today. A complete stranger I have never met before stopped me on the way back home from the shops. She wanted to tell me how nice it was to see me and my daughter walking along together in the snow. But that was not all. Her point was that we were walking together at the toddler's slow pace, rather than my normal pace which is a heck of a lot faster. She said that she was sick of seeing mothers just dragging their kids along behind them, rather than taking their time walking with their children. Now, I'm beginning to wonder if I am the mad one. But she's right. This place is so full of people like The Family, forcing the kids to fit around them. After all, to stop the kids slowing them down, the ex's sister had her son in his pushchair until very recently. Well I'm assuming she doesn't still put him in it now. He was still in it a month ago though. And he started school back in September. Four and a half and still in a pushchair. Now, the toddler has only just turned three, and we've ditched hers. Admittedly it's only permanently ditched because it broke, but we were cutting back on it. I assumed it'd be done with by next summer anyway.
But that's getting off the issue. I was horrified at the idea that millions of kids out there are being dragged around. What's wrong with slowing down for the children? Hmm. It's like all those parents who don't drill into their kids that you stop at traffic lights, and WAIT for the green man. I do, because I don't want the toddler to just leg it across the road and get killed by a car. But that's just me. Of course I'm doing millions of parents a great injustice. There are many more parents out there like me I'm sure. I hope so anyway, because the alternative is so depressing. But you never know in this day and age.
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