A Nice Winter-Time Dip in the Pool

We have suffered through a deluge of rain here for the past several weeks and both the boys and I have really begun to suffer from cabin fever. On Monday afternoon, there was a nice treat of some break-through sunshine and I asked M if he wanted to go for a bike ride around the neighborhood. He politely declined, insisting on venturing out into the backyard. The soggy, muddy, backyard. In 40 degree weather. Being the responsible mother that I am, I dressed the boys in sweats and rain boots and let them have at it.

Cut to ten minutes later and both boys had taken off their rain boots and were prancing around the grass, and the mud, in their socks. Again, being responsible, I allowed this to continue with a sigh. What could some really cold weather with soaking wet feet hurt?

A few minutes later, (I was obviously paying really close attention to their antics) I noticed B stuffing mud into his mouth. Why this boy loves to eat dirt, I cannot figure out. He eats sand at the beach, at the playground and now mud in the backyard. It's gross. He always spits it out and yet he tries it again almost every time. It can't taste good, so why in the world would he persist? One would think he would have given up by now. Anyway, I ran over and wiped his mouth out and scolded him (yeah, right) and moved him away from the muddy part of the dirt.

I went back to patio and was contemplating how much longer I was going to let them play in the frigid weather when I looked over in time to see B plopping himself down into the rain and dirt filled kiddie pool. He was submerged to his armpits. I would once again like to note that it was approximately 40 degrees Fahrenheit outside. ( I know you are completely amazed by my stellar parenting skills.) Of course, I freaked out and started running towards the pool. M apparently decided that B had had a good idea and started to march towards the pool as well. I yelled, "M! Stop it! DO NOT GET INTO THE WATER!" Unfortunately, M is almost three and has absolutely no impulse control and an apparently great ability to tune me out, so he did what any boy of his age would. He plopped himself down next to B and laughed hysterically. I'm guessing that my screaming only made things funnier for him.

At this point I figured the best course of action was to get the boys out of the pool and dried off as soon as possible. Can one get hypothermia at above freezing temperatures? I really didn't want to run an experiment using my kids as the guinea pigs. I stripped them, rushed them inside, and watched in horror as they began to run around the house naked. I actually had to hold them down to diaper and clothe them. Well, at least they got to spend some time outside...