Day 775 - "Splash"down

Spring is coming...or it's actually here.  I can never tell initially. It's especially confusing when there are torrential downpours one day followed by 70 degree temperatures two days later. It's actually pretty wild. 

Of course, a big part of spring is to actually enjoy our newfound beautiful weather by spending as much time outdoors as possible. During an absolutely beautiful day like today, that's not as difficult. However, on one of those days with the aforementioned torrential downpours (not so much) like Monday, it's a little more difficult. One thing that can make it slightly easier is embracing a childlike mindset for the day.

Ethan's having a little trouble figuring out the proper headgear this Spring...

For example, when I looked out the window on Monday, my reaction was one of "Oh man, look at that rain. This is going to be a long day." For Ellie, her response was more along the lines of "Look at the rain! That's awesome! I want to play in it." Of course, like the total scrub of a dad that I am, my initial response to her statement was to shrug it off and go about our day. Meanwhile, Ellie's initial response to my shrugging off was to temporarily push her request to the back of her mind so that it could return to the forefront at a time to be determined. 

If you're one of those readers wondering exactly how long it took for the idea of playing in the rain to return to Ellie's mind, it really wasn't long at all. In fact, it pretty much reemerged when we decided to make a quick sojourn to Chick-Fil-A to grab a free sandwich. Therefore, as soon as we returned home, I decided we needed to have a really early lunch so that Ellie could play outside in her cherished rain.

Once Ellie was all bundled up in her snow boots and winter coat, I walked out to the garage with Ethan in my arms and opened the door, freeing Ellie to go play in the rain until her little heart's content. You may be surprised to learn that Ellie's heart was initially content after less than five minutes. She had seemingly overestimated the amount of fun she could have running through the rain. Really, though, all she required was the proper coaching on how to have fun. 

With that in mind, I directed her attention to a large puddle forming on the sidewalk between our house and our neighbor, Juan's. Once Ellie made note of that discovery, she basically did everything short of diving headfirst into that puddle. She kicked. She stomped. She splashed. She even ran through it over and over again.

While all of this was going on, Ethan was having a much different experience than his sister. First of all, I made the ignorant assumption that Ethan would be content just wandering around the garage while Ellie played outside in the rain. Second, I decided he would be just fine being held in my arms while watching his sister splash about. The longer Ellie played though, the more Ethan made his dissatisfaction known. 

Once Ellie had been playing for about twenty minutes, I decided it was time for Ethan to get a little time in the rain. With my son still held securely in my arms, I cautiously stepped out of the garage into the rain. Then, uncertain how he would react, I inched further and further out the door until our entire bodies were exposed to the elements. While my first reaction was to stare at Ethan, his was much different as he raised his arms to the sky and began laughing victoriously.

Once five minutes had elapsed, I decided both Ethan and Ellie had played in the rain enough. Of course, that decision was not met with immediate acceptance from either child. Ellie tried to bargain for additional minutes whereas Ethan just decided to scream in my face. Regardless, I wouldn't be doing a good job as their dad if I let them spend the entire day getting soaked in the rain. Half a day probably wouldn't be too bad but the entire day is just a bit too much. Don't you think? #DaddyWrite