Before pushing the passing winter too far into the recesses of my memory, I choose to pause and take stock of how much living and growing can happen in a single season.
This weekend marked the end of the season of skiing at the Middlebury Snowbowl, which has been our family’s playground and sanity salve for the past three months. At the beginning of the season, our seven-year-old was sliding around each pizza-wedge turn, uncomfortably struggling with the gear and awkwardly belittled by the mountain. By Saturday, he was lapping the lift with his peers, skillfully navigating the safety bar, managing gear and skiing any run on the mountain that fit his whim. The independence he has bought with these new skills is empowering and makes his Mama teary-proud.
His sister, now three-and-a-half, started the season between my legs, her body held mostly hovering above the snow, just with the slightest hint at the feeling of skiing. We saw many low moments throughout the ski season — one particular tantrum at the base of the Sheehan resulted in both boots, mittens and helmet thrown into the snow and a flailing, rolling child who screamed “Go away!” at her poor Mimi for nearly 20 minutes in 10-degree weather.
A season by, this floppy and frustrated start has morphed into a kid who can make independent turns with a smile so big it can dissolve any amount of resentment I might have carried about relinquishing another ski season to the bunny hill.
These same kids have learned and refined their ice skating skills to the point that we can play games of pond hockey that are actually fun. We can go on cross country ski outings where we explore deep into the woods of the Moosalamoo Wilderness Area, or challenge ourselves to find a day that we could ski to school (which we successfully did at least once this year, though conditions were admittedly a little sketchy).
The kids internalized lessons from the cold: the consequences when you stubbornly reject the scarf or snowpants on the walk to school; the importance of filling the wood ring and chopping kindling so we can all enjoy the evening fireplace; how much sweeter a cup of cocoa is when it’s the reward for toughing it out in single-digit temperatures.
In these few months they have accepted huge challenges, taken risks, allowed themselves to fail and have gotten hurt in the process. And they have changed and grown rapidly as a result.
I am inspired and excited to see where spring can take us next!
– Christy Lynn, co-publisher of the Addison Independent and mother of 2
Do you have a story to share about life with young kids in Addison County? We’d love to hear from you! Email [email protected].