A New Season Is Upon Us.

September 18, 2006 – 8:53 am |

Here in Minnesota we have two seasons. Some people will tell you they are called “winter and construction” others might joke about “winter and mosquito.” For mothers of small children the annoyances posed by mosquitos and construction pale in comparison to the issues of our two seasons: sunscreen and bundling.

In the few hot weeks of summer we chase screaming, half-naked children around backyard blow-up pools clutching a bottle of 50 SPF and brandishing empty threats about spending the day indoors. The rest of the year we search fruitlessly and tirelessly in closets and under couches for missing socks, boots, hats and mittens, and we wrangle whiny, wiggly kids into various degrees of protective outerwear.

It’s a cold, rainy Monday morning. I had the air conditioning on last week, and we’ll need the heat today. I can officially pack up the flip-flops and the sunhats, put away my SPF and start practicing the new drill.