TOWER- The New York Times “At Home” section had an online article of mostly worthless tips for playing out in the snow last week. If they really wanted some practical tips, they should have contacted the students at Tower-Soudan Elementary, who spent a chilly afternoon on the school’s sliding hill last Thursday.
These kids know that you don’t need fancy gear to play out in the snow, because plastic sleds and saucers work just fine. They cost less than a cheeseburger and fries at Good Ol’ Days, and provide fun all winter, or until they bust in half, which can happen when kids attempt to sled off the back of a garage roof into a waiting snowbank. Yes, I watched a group of boys doing this a couple of weeks ago. I know this isn’t necessarily as dangerous as it sounds, because my own son, now safely grown up and more sensible, did similar things at that age.
These kids know that snow pants don’t need to match your jacket, and if either have a few holes or rips, they will still keep you warm. Hats and mittens are preferred by any adult around, but kids seem to find them optional. They know you don’t need some fancy organization system to hang them up at home. Any closet or hook will do, as will the back of a chair when a decent hook isn’t available. They may prefer a pile on the floor, but parents know this is a really bad idea because of how damp, sweaty coats smell the next day.
These kids know that sledding is more fun with friends. There are races to the bottom, sled trains, and what only can be described as mosh pit sledding, where the children, to be honest it’s all boys, end in a pile of sleds, arms, and legs, and it’s hard to tell which belong to whom.
These kids know that sledding isn’t just for kids. They kept urging the teachers and paras to take turns, mostly because it is fun, and secondly, standing at the top of the hill just makes you get cold, while running back up the hill with a sled will warm you up. They also knew that their teachers and paras often volunteered to haul more than one sled back up the hill.
As for parents, most have learned that kids need at least a couple of winter jackets and snow pants, because after some serious sledding they get filled with snow and immediately become sopping wet masses that can take a day to dry.
As for mittens, you can never have too many pairs. By the end of winter, you will find several pairs outdoors under the melted snow, and more yet in the large lost and found pile in the school hallway. If you are lucky, the lost and found mittens might be in a pair, but usually they aren’t, and the matching one is nowhere to be found. Parents also know you need to buy mittens early in the season. By January, when you realize your supply is dwindling, Target is selling swimsuits, not winter gear. And parents know that the sledding season, up here, can last into April, while the ice sometimes doesn’t melt on the lakes until mid-May.
Kids also know that sledding is a perfectly fine activity when the temperatures dip below zero, though they might have a harder time convincing their teachers to supervise the sledding hill during recess or afternoon gym time!