Snow Ice Cream and Candy

Anyone who knows me and my husband intimately knows that we dislike the winter—especially snow. However, even though I dislike the snow passionately I try not to expose these views on my children—at least consciously. It was very hard at first to hold my tongue and not say anything negative. Nevertheless, I want my kids to have the opportunity to form their own thoughts about the snow and the winter experience without my jaded grumblings of shoveling the driveway or the overt disruption to my life. Regardless of whether you like snow or not—I am sure that you have one good childhood memory of building a snowman or being excited for a day off from school. It is interesting how our perceptions change about something as simple as snow being good or bad as we become an adult. Children have no such limitations. In their natural state they are joyous about the white stuff falling from the sky. Children approach snow with a sense of wonderment. It is great to see how their eyes light up as they stick out their tongues out a passing flurry. Looking at how my own kids view winter has changed how my awareness. I now find a sense of calmness and stillness as the white stuff blankets the landscape. In a way, I feel like the Grinch whose heart grew three sizes too big. Instead of going through the motions, I find myself enjoying the excitement of wintertime activities that I do with the kids—and now I’m even finding that I am trying to come up with more. Yesterday we made snow ice cream which is a tradition from my husband’s mom. It was delicious. We mixed a little condensed milk with new fallen snow and drizzled chocolate on it. WOW!!! It’s not Haagen Dazs but it’s pretty good. The other thing that the kids loved making with the snow is snow candy. I found the recipe in a Laura Ingles Wilder Book when I was a girl. Basically, you warm up maple syrup and drizzle it over new fallen snow (I like to stress new fallen snow). It is so much fun to do and you can create really interesting patterns. Alex, Zefram, and Athena had so much fun eating this sensational snow dish that we packed the freezer full of snow to keep the fun alive even after the magic has melted outside. Maybe will try putting food coloring and sugar in it next batch as suggested by a neighbor. In a lot of ways, I am discovering my inner child along with my little ones. Living in that space is so much pleasurable.