My daughter's middle name is Picabo, as in
Picabo Street; the well decorated Olympic downhill skier. Because I am a great lover of winter sports as viewed from my warm couch, I became enamored of Picabo during her final games. If she had won her last gold medal, Violet's first and middle names might have been reversed. I did some skiing of my own in high school, but with age I have gained not only wisdom, but a much lower tolerance for extreme temperatures. I could go all winter without so much as a passing urge to play in the snow, but I am not 4 years old and suffering from cabin fever. Yesterday, Aaron made a sledding play date for Violet with our neighborhood friends. This was fine despite Violet's lack of winter wear or a sled, because these friends were going to share their gear. Well, vomit happens and the play date got canceled.
I might have breathed a sigh of relief, but Daddy decided that we could go sledding by ourselves. We just needed to stop at Walmart and pick up a sled. I suspected that Walmart would fail us, as it always does, and gathered a few items to use as makeshift sleds (southern Ohio stores are notorious for not stocking sleds). Why not turn this into a homeschool lesson about what will hurl you down a hill and what will not?
An oversized IKEA shopping bag with cardboard stuffed in the bottom will NOT send you down the hill.
Nope. Still doesn't work. Also note: lids from Rubbermaid containers do NOT make good sleds.
You know what does work? Sleds borrowed from nice teenagers who try not to laugh at your pathetic attempts to sled with random household objects.
Borrowed sleds actually work too well. The once fearless Violet began to rethink her whole daredevil lifestyle. Hurtling down a frozen hill at breakneck speed with a 200 pound man is apparently my daughter's threshold for terror.
Aaron ended up pulling Violet around in a laundry basket (I told you. Random household objects.) She was too traumatized to use the real sled again*.
*Furthermore, she was too cold. Her stylish faux suede coat and boots were no match for the wet snow, despite the grocery bag liners I expertly stuffed her feet into. We lasted 20 minutes on that hill.
You're thinking "Nah - I'll just stay up here, you have to come back up anyway.."
ReplyDeleteI am so lucky - Paul has shown no interest in the 12 inches of (now frozen solid) snow that's taken up residence round here. He likes it well enough on the walk to school but he's not chomping at the bit to get out in it. Sometimes he's just purrfect :)
Good tries with the household objects. Those teens were super nice to share. Almost unheard of.
ReplyDeleteThere is a sever shortage of sledges round here at the moment too. It's heartbreaking to have all this snow and nothing to play in it with
ReplyDeleteI have to admit that you'd probably be laughed off of every Wisconsin sledding hill with your sorry assortment of sledding equipment.
ReplyDeleteBut knowing you, the laughs were probably part of the fun.
I thought for sure the Ikea bag with the cardboard would have done better. Makes for a cute set of photos!
next time, ponchos. when we would hit snow during late Spring hikes in Colorado, our rain ponchos always made the perfect sleds.
ReplyDeletebut man, aren't laundry baskets the invention with a million uses! what a well-spent $15!
When I was a kid (and the parents were out) we used to use crib mattresses to sled down the stairs. I bet those would've worked! Maybe next time you'll give that a try.
ReplyDeletePoor Violet, traumatized by her first sledding experience.
I was also fascinated by Picabo Street as a kid. Mostly because her name was Picabo.
ReplyDeleteI grew up in New England. I have done my fair share of sledding and skiing and freezing. I'm done. My kids are old enough now that I can bundle them up and kick them out Grammy's back door. ;-) I can take pictures from inside.
I haven't heard about Picabo Street in YEARS then you write about her and then I run across an article about her today:
ReplyDeletehttp://celebrity-babies.com/2010/01/12/picabo-street-on-her-decision-to-undergo-the-essure-procedure/
Weird.