A Smile to Melt the Cold

We Northerners are pretty hardy when it comes to winter weather, but this "-34°C with the windchill" stuff is starting to get old. I can handle a day or two of it. I can survive a week of it, knowing it will soon end. It's hard to face it every day when there is no end in sight. The roads are terrible and it's impossible to spend more than about 2 minutes outside without literally freezing. On days like today, even the hardiest among us turn into teeth-chattering whimps.

Kids, however, don't get it. At least mine doesn't. Yesterday, I ran from the car to the preschool to pick him up and ran, dragging him behind me, back to the car again. The car started, and we made our way home. Home, where I could turn the heat up and pretend it was summer. (What a luxury central heating is. Must remember to honour it with some sort of ode. Anyway, back to the bitter cold.) I parked the car in the garage and released my son from his car seat. Junior bolted out of the garage and dove head first into a snowbank. Excellent. He laughed, his cheeks turning bright red. I finally convinced him to come inside. I was in agony, I was so cold, but Jack was smiling and happy. To him, yesterday was just another day, not something to avoid, but something to be embraced. He was completely unaware of the cold.

I'm always amazed at how Jack can turn an otherwise gloomy situation into a cheerful one. It's just one of the many reasons I am so grateful for my son. This cold is hard to bear some days, but all I really have to do is look at that little boy and his great big innocent smile, and I forget all about it. 

It's another cold day here today. If you're suffering through it with me, I hope you have someone in your life whose smile warms you. If not, this picture might do the trick, unless you're afraid of bears, in which case you will want to avert your eyes.

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