We’re into the fifth day of our ‘long’ weekend at this point, once you consider the snow storm that hit us yesterday and kept us at home.

Yesterday, with the snow coming down, the Monster started insisting that he wanted to go outside and play.  I said no immediately due to the fact that it was windy and still snowing, but I’d mentioned that I’d be more amenable today, weather permitting.  As I also mentioned, we’re out of things for him to be doing inside, save for perhaps his project due on Monday.

So, when it dawned nice and sunny today, it was clear he was going to be allowed to go outside.

Obviously, we’re not going to be depriving him of sensory experiences when there’s an opportunity to go to play in the snow.  It’s good for a lot of things – the cold as a different sensation on his skin, the texture of the snow, the sound, et cetera.  On the other hand, it’s also bitter cold outside, as I experienced when I finally trudged outside to shovel the walks.

He likes to play in the snow.  Precisely -what- he wants to play, I don’t honestly know, but he does like to go out in it.  The only real shame for today was that the snow we got was very light and powdery, and therefore horrible to use as snowballs or for making a snowman since it wouldn’t hold together.  Plus… we really don’t seem to have a lot of kids playing outside for him to have any potential for social interaction.  And we don’t have a decent hill nearby for him to sled down (or a sled at the moment, but that’s secondary)…

At least it burned off some energy, I think.

What I would love to do, if he does continue to show an interest in winter/snow/whathaveyou, is to find something for him to do out in the weather when it’s like this, even if it’s just wandering around in it.  I know that I used to love going skiing (I don’t get much of a chance anymore), and if it’s really more the cold that he’s looking for, there’s always tubing, ice skating or the like…