Playing in the snow

Here are some photo's of us playing in the white powder on our recent snow day.




















The whole Portland area saw a few inches of snow on January 16th. Up at our house, we had 4 inches. It made for a fun little holiday for everyone. Schools shut down, kids stayed home, parents got to skip out of going to work and nearly everyone was outside playing.

Padraic had lots of fun sledding down the driveway on a makeshift sled of cardboard. (Mom & Dad even tried it once or twice) And of course we had a small snowball fight-- which was really more like trying to throw powder at each other than a packed ball since the snow wasn't moist enough until the next day. All in all, it was lots of fun. Cold, but fun.

No injures at our house, unlike the so many others we heard about on the news. Tons of kids were injured in sledding accidents. Mostly because they picked a slope to go down with no thought to what may be at the bottom. Kids were running into trash cans, parked cars, tree stumps, street curbs--you name it. One kid was run over by a passing car when he sled out into traffic. There was even a little girl who died when her sled, pulled by rope attached to her dad's truck, ran her into a brick wall. How devastatingly sad! I just can not imagine sending my child out to play one day, and it turning out that I never again see my child alive. It's times like these, and stories like these, that I am so glad that it is important to me to keep a good eye on my own child.

A hot debate

The hot topic right now is whether I am having a boy or a girl. There are no shortage of opinions, that's for sure. I, as most of you all know, want another boy. Padraic wants a brother. Then there is Grandma Linda who wants a girl, Aunt Penny's guess is for a girl and Colleen wants a girl.

I am comming to dread the inevitable question--"Do you know what you are having?"-- because I am so disappointed at not knowing. Following this question I am offered one's guess of the sex and an opinion on who's best--a boy or a girl and why. This is the hot debate that I'd really rather do without. Some people can understand my veiws and yet others think I am crazy and have a bad attitude.

You see, I'd not only prefer to have another boy, I really don't have any desire to ever have a girl. Mother's of boys can fully understand this. It's the mother's that have girls that just don't get it. I love having a son. I have had so much fun raising a boy. I like to think that I am raising a future man and shaping that man into a gentleman--into a breed that seems much deminished from previous generations.

I read an artical today written by a mother of 2 boys and she had this to say: "I am free to have fun with the reality of boys, their hit-and-run hugs, their take-no-prisoners play. I hope to show them, by what kind of woman I strive to be, that they can love strong woman and remain strong men. Maybe someday, two very lucky girls will grow up to meet my sons and then I can always fantasize about granddaughters."

Well said and I agree.

Not to say that I have no love for girls. I know of a few (2or 3) girls that I could happily 'adopt', but I know many more that I find extremely difficult. I am a 'girl' so I can say this of my sex--Girls are almost always brats, in some form or another. I think it's just hardwired into our make-up. Sometimes we outgrow it, sometimes not and sometimes we choose to change ourselves for the better. Girls can be sweet and loving one momment, then nasty, short-tempered, talking back, sassy little creatures the next. I know--as a girl I was just this way.

For some, I'd say that the good times are what they look forward to with girls. As for me, I'd just prefer not to deal with the theatrics of raising a girl at all. Give me the rough-and-tummble boys, who fall and break bones, get into all sorts of scrapes, who do not cry about "My friend won't play with me, or talk to me...", the boys who in quiet times come to cuddle and hug. That's my ideal.

Of course, I may yet get my chance at that 'dramatic' girl, no matter what my preferences are. And that's okay. God has already planned and created my next child. If I am blessed with another boy, great. I know I'll love him as will his father and big brother. But if God blesses me with a girl instead, I will be just as happy, whether she is 'bratty' or really sweet. I know I will love being her mother just as much as I love being Padraic's mother.