This morning the sky was gray and promising rain but from my quick glance out the door the drops were few and far between. Dexter knew it was time for the bus stop walk and he was eager to go. So were the boys so we grabbed a couple umbrellas and headed out.
We were half way back home, with Cody safely tucked on the bus and on his way to school, when the whining started.
It was cold.
It was windy.
His little hands were cold.
His arms were just too tired to hold up the umbrella any longer.
His legs hurt.
He got a raindrop in his eyeball.
His hair was cold.
He walked slower and slower so that Dexter, who is old and arthritic, and I, who am less old and arthritic but you get the idea, were actually moving faster than he was. Then Carter stopped, posed in that floppy marionette style that children of a certain age seem to be genetically predisposition for, and told me that he just could not walk any more. Sigh.
What does one do in such a circumstance but to start a new scientific classification of mud puddles. I started with the long shallow one on the roadway because it was right there at my feet. It was exposed to the elements being out on the road next to the field instead of by the trees. The wind formed little ripples on the surface of the water. This was the puddle Carter had named Mr. Ripples earlier in our walk so the name stuck. Next came a deeper one formed from one too many tires going over a gravel driveway, we classified it as Mrs. Rocky. Then came Miss Fish, because of the shape, and Mrs. Bubbles a mud puddle that formed under the branches of a tree. The dripping of the rain off the tree branches caused rather good sized bubbles to form and float on the surface. I tried the name Mr. Aardvark out on one strange shaped puddle but Carter did not find it funny.
We made it back to the house. Carter got warmed up and stopped complaining about his cold hair. I don’t think that Carl Linnaeus would have approved of either our rudimentary classification techniques nor our chosen names for said classified mud puddles, but it did put a stop to the whining and made for a much nicer walk.
Shoes On The Wrong Feet 
You are one smart cookie!
It really comes down to survival and being quick on your feet. My background in science has come in rather handy with this whole parenting thing, I must say. 🙂
Much better way to finish a walk with a little boy!! I would have probably succumbed to the option of least resistance (picking him up and carrying him) because I could never have thought as fast as you did. What a terrific idea – and I don’t think Linnaeus’ opinion would be anything other than positive!
Ha! Option of least resistance – he is a very heavy 41 pounds – I still find distraction to be my best technique in such situations.
cold hair — I love it and your imagination
He has complained of cold hair on more than one occasion. Crazy child!
but good imagination
I thought my daughter (now 23) was the only one whose “hair hurt”…
Clever distraction, Mama!
He is a rather sensitive guy especially to temperatures and has sometimes resorted to wearing sunglasses or walking backwards to avoid the “tear eye” that comes from walking in the cold. I was not suprised at all when he told me his hair hurt. I am glad to know he is not the only one out there with the ability to have hair that hurts!
Distraction is where it is at these days.
Rain in my eye ball!!! Omg so funny!
Cody, Carter’s older brother, came home from school the other day telling me that if a raindrop falls in your eye then you die. I was shocked. Apparently one of his friends told him this and he was not sure if it was true or not. One must beware of rain in the eye ball I guess. Who knew?
Well I will ware glasses next time it rains! Kids are so cute! And a bit scary !
Tell him my hair gets cold too…I totally understand 🙂
I will let him know he is not alone. I do not have such problems but then my hair is a little different from the average person’s hair. 🙂
Oh, that’s so great! The stuff us moms have to come up with to keep peace and order!
We must do what we must do in order to keep on keeping on. We got home safe and sound (and no one lost a hand or hair to frost bite) so I guess I could call it a win on my part. 🙂
I hate being cold, too. Great call on the puddle classifications, though. I like to *think* I’m clever, but there’s no way I’m that quick! 🙂
I hate being cold as well. The puddle classification is not all that much different than the finding shapes in the clouds game, so it was pretty easy to keep his attention once we got started.
Ah, I remember those walks. Ours were at Disney though, “I’m hot,” “I’m tired,” “I’m hungry” LOL the more things change, the more things stay the same.