Going out in January...

January in Minnesota is truly not for the faint of heart. Our first winter here is one of the coldest since 2000. We had record snowfall for the month of December and near record breaking subzero air temperatures this past weekend. In order to venture out you need to spend 10 minutes putting on required garb. Even to take out the trash, you cannot just dash from the back door to the bin in anything less than a hat, boots, jacket and gloves. Your hands will stick to the metal on the screen door, your nose hairs will freeze and your skin will sting if exposed to the piercing cold. We look like bank robbers when we go out to walk Tucker with our black face mask and hat pulled low in our puffy down coats and insulated gloves.

With that said, it takes great planning to get both ourselves and Cole ready for a journey out of the house. Cole's snowsuit is so thick he can barely move once we wrestle him into it so you have to leave that until last as he doesn't like the inability to move. The problem is that once you have all your layers on, you begin to heat up quickly so the sheer exercise of putting Cole into his snowsuit leaves you sweating. This whole scenario can add quite a bit of time to getting out the door, so you have to begin ahead of when you think you want to actually pull out of the driveway and then add some more time for last minute diaper changes, meltdowns etc. Once you get into the garage and start the car, you now have to attempt to get him into his carseat with your gloves on. This is a futile act but I find myself attempting to manage in such a manner each and every time. The straps and buckles are just too tiny to snap into place with bulky fleece gloves. I find myself pulling off the gloves in a race to get him into his seat before he moves and I have to reposition the straps lengthening the time my hands are exposed to the icy air. In the "comfort" of our garage, this is tolerable. In the parking lot at Target as the arctic winds whip around me, I curse silently.

We when arrive at a destination, before you open the door, you plan your path which means whatever way is fastest. You must remember that the parking lots and streets are continually snow and ice covered so your footing is crucial as you race walk with your heads down to get inside. Once back into the dry overheated warmth you have to unzipper jackets and remove hats only to repeat the aforementioned process all over when we depart.

Shorts and t-shirts will never feel so good as they will approximately 100 days from now.