Damn the Winter
See I was going to write this scathing post about the Iraq vote, but it wasn't going anywhere. So instead I will write about the stupid cold weather.
I never used to care about the season. You see, I am an indoor person. Cold? No problem, just stay inside. Hot? How would I know? Oh yeah, I can see the heat shimmering off the asphalt from my air-conditioned house.
But now I have a child and our time together (from about 8:30 AM to 1:30 PM on a workday) is boring, boring, boring. Moosh wanders around the house playing with stuff and I attempt to numb myself by watching all of the shows I have recorded on my DVR. I'm bored with it. He's bored with it. I wish we could go outside. But my husband has this INSANE fear of the cold.
This insanity used to be directed at me. A typical conversation on a cold day used to go like this:
Lisa: [walks into room wearing a t-shirt and pajama pants] Good morning!
R: [wearing three shirts and two pairs of pants] Why are you naked? Put on another shirt.
L: I'm fine. Not cold at all.
R: You'll die! Look at me! I'm wearing three shirts! And two pairs of pants!
L: Is it my fault you're crazy? If I put on another shirt I'll get hot.
R: If you don't put on another shirt you'll die! Die! Die! Die!
L: You know, being cold doesn't actually make you sick.
R: [Head explodes from frustration.]
After we had the baby, it got even worse, but not towards me, towards the kid.
L: Why is the baby wearing three shirts?
R: It's freezing!
L: It's 75 degrees outside. That's nice, not freezing.
R: You want him to get pneumonia don't you?
L: Let me take off one of these shirts. [starts to remove shirt from overheated baby]
R: Stop! Are you crazy! It's freezing! He'll die!
L: He's sweating! No one should sweat in 75 degree weather!
R: NO! HE MUST WEAR THE SHIRTS!
L: [Head explodes from frustration.]
The toughest part of these arguments is that R's reasoning is totally irrational. Consequently, arguing with him from a rational point of view (e.g. cold doesn't really make you sick, 75 degrees is warm) doesn't work. Nothing works. So the poor baby gets to sweat his way through a perfectly nice day, and I can't take him outside in the winter, and my head is exploding.
I can't wait for spring. Except for the part where I have to mow the damn lawn. Hatred for mowing the lawn.
I never used to care about the season. You see, I am an indoor person. Cold? No problem, just stay inside. Hot? How would I know? Oh yeah, I can see the heat shimmering off the asphalt from my air-conditioned house.
But now I have a child and our time together (from about 8:30 AM to 1:30 PM on a workday) is boring, boring, boring. Moosh wanders around the house playing with stuff and I attempt to numb myself by watching all of the shows I have recorded on my DVR. I'm bored with it. He's bored with it. I wish we could go outside. But my husband has this INSANE fear of the cold.
This insanity used to be directed at me. A typical conversation on a cold day used to go like this:
Lisa: [walks into room wearing a t-shirt and pajama pants] Good morning!
R: [wearing three shirts and two pairs of pants] Why are you naked? Put on another shirt.
L: I'm fine. Not cold at all.
R: You'll die! Look at me! I'm wearing three shirts! And two pairs of pants!
L: Is it my fault you're crazy? If I put on another shirt I'll get hot.
R: If you don't put on another shirt you'll die! Die! Die! Die!
L: You know, being cold doesn't actually make you sick.
R: [Head explodes from frustration.]
After we had the baby, it got even worse, but not towards me, towards the kid.
L: Why is the baby wearing three shirts?
R: It's freezing!
L: It's 75 degrees outside. That's nice, not freezing.
R: You want him to get pneumonia don't you?
L: Let me take off one of these shirts. [starts to remove shirt from overheated baby]
R: Stop! Are you crazy! It's freezing! He'll die!
L: He's sweating! No one should sweat in 75 degree weather!
R: NO! HE MUST WEAR THE SHIRTS!
L: [Head explodes from frustration.]
The toughest part of these arguments is that R's reasoning is totally irrational. Consequently, arguing with him from a rational point of view (e.g. cold doesn't really make you sick, 75 degrees is warm) doesn't work. Nothing works. So the poor baby gets to sweat his way through a perfectly nice day, and I can't take him outside in the winter, and my head is exploding.
I can't wait for spring. Except for the part where I have to mow the damn lawn. Hatred for mowing the lawn.
posted by Lisa C. @ 8:06:00 PM
2 Comments:
At 7:36 PM,
Anonymous said…
I was thinking about this entry today, as I watched my toddler slide on his belly down a snow- and ice-slicked alley. I'm lucky that my husband and I are on the same page about weather. Unless it's pouring rain, the kid needs to go outside. EVERY DAY. If it's hot, well, he needs to get used to the heat. We just take lots of water and sunscreen and appropriate hats. If it's cold, it'll make him tougher. Again, we don the appropriate hats.
So far it's working. He doesn't whine about being too hot or too cold, and he gets tired enough to take an afternoon nap. Now, if I could just teach him that the point of shoveling snow is to REMOVE snow from the sidewalks, I'd be set.
~summer (http://summertime.blog-city.com)
At 5:42 PM,
Lisa C. said…
Thanks Summer! I love your blog!
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