Why sledging with a 10-month-old isn't such a good idea after all.

Thursday 8th February 2007

We got a sledge from my dad for Christmas, well Sam got a sledge from my Dad for Christmas, which we thought was a bit optimistic what with global warming and all.
But today it snowed. Big, fat, wet, deep snow... in London. So down came the sledge from the loft. In the morning I went with two like-minded mums - without mishap. But you don't miss a chance to go sledging twice, do you? So in the afternoon, as the snow was melting, I called a few Yummies (super jolly fizzing perfect Yum Mums from my postnatal group) to offer more 'sledging fun' in the park. Dubious responses, but a few agreed to come and watch. I dutifully threaded my old mobile phone charger flex through the metal loops (no rope in this house, you know) so I could pull Sam along like an overgrown Husky and heaved my way to the top of the hill. 'Be careful with Sam, make sure he doesn't fall off...' the Yummies cried from the sidelines (which basically translates as 'I don't think you should take a 10 month old sledging.')
'Hmph,' I thought, as we teetered on the edge of the hill. 'We'll be fine. It'll be fun. This is what having a kid's all about, isn't it?' (Which roughly translates as 'I'm going to be a fun Mum, not a boring sensible one!') So we whizzed off down the slope of our local park, wind in our hair, and, sure enough, we came to an abrupt halt at the bottom. Sam flew off face first into the snow and emerged with freezing mush in his eyes, ears, mouth and nostrils looking like the baby snowman we'd just made. Only then did I realise his little shoe and tiny sock had come off half way up and his toes were embedded in the cold, wet flakes. He bravely blinked the snow from his eyes as I frantically scrabbled around for his shoe and sock before any of the Yummies could see what I terrible mother I was. Then we went home to warm up... I'd like to say 'by the fire with tea and crumpets', but the truth is we warmed up by the radiator with tea and a bit of leftover toast I'd saved for feeding the ducks. So the moral of the story is this... sledging with a 10 month old isn't such a brilliant idea after all.