Mittens go last

It's not as cold as advertised, so far. On Saturday my soccer training was held outdoors. I attended, with trepidation, survived, and even removed my down coat after the first 15 minutes. In fact it was kind of fun. It's possible I'll make it to the spring equinox intact.

My children, however, are disappointed. We read of snow and school closures in England, but here we've had one day of light feathery white covering the land and it made no difference whatsoever to routine activities. The kids made the most of it, forming snowballs and so forth. But these non-natives are getting restless, and somehow we're going to have to get them to snow. We promised them a skiing/sledding weekend as a Chanuka present; I'm just wondering how far we'll have to travel to get it.

Meanwhile, volunteering my time at the younger children's school, I now spend Wednesday mornings with kindergarteners (age 5 or thereabouts), and I find that I myself have learned new lessons. After their session in the library, where I was working this week, the 'SK's (senior kindergarteners) prepared to go home at noon. I eavesdropped as the teacher guided them through the process. 'Take your shoes off before you put on your snow pants. Put your snow boots on, then your coat. What will you do next? That's right! Zip up your coat! If your mittens are already on, how can you zip your coat? Mittens go last.' Of course they do. But would it occur to me to teach that as a lesson? No, I think not. It's not something they taught us, growing up in California, nor was it a skill I felt my own offspring had to memorize. One final point the teacher added: 'Help your friends if they have trouble, but be sure to get yourself ready first.' Where had I heard that? Oh yes: 'In case of a change in cabin pressure, adjust your own oxygen mask before helping others.' Life lessons indeed.

I like the Canadian ecumenical approach to the holidays. At our school's winter concert, the choir sang, to the tune of 'The 12 Days of Christmas': 'On the first day of the holidays, my angel gave to me... 4 homemade latkes, 3 cups of eggnog, 2 figure skates, and a great big evergreen tree'. (Etc.) A menorah figures too.

In other wintry news, we have had a lot of school-based bake sales. My repertoire, corn bread and brownies, is tapped out. When will it be spring, and time for salads? Oh goodness will you look at the calendar: we're not even at winter solstice yet. Brrr.