Icy rain reveals personality
I was born and raised in Finland and needless to say, I have experienced cold, snowy winters. Ten years ago I moved to the Netherlands and since then I have experienced cold, rainy winters that sometimes turn into warm, rainy winters. Today I happened to be picking up my kids from school just when icy drizzle was scheduled. Yes, I should've dressed everyone in rain proof clothing, but usually we manage that one kilometer in a drizzle no problem. I evaluated the rain wasn't going to bother us too much, but I completely forgot to calculate in the effect of the ice cold rain.
When we were leaving school, a boat was passing and our bridge was closed. Not to freeze while waiting, I decided it was better to keep on moving, and cycle through another bridge, even though it added half a kilometer.
Soon enough the rain had passed both my jacket and the thick sweater underneath and I felt the cold water against my skin. This wasn't the work of drizzle rain as much as my rain app tried to convince me so; this was proper rain. My pants were soaked, my shoes were wet. My wet hair made a nest between my scarf and my mouth every time I turned my head, which is something you need to do in traffic quite often. As much as I aim to stay positive, calm and collected, I was ready to scream out loud how miserable the weather made me at that moment.
My 9-year-old daughter was cycling next to me. She was telling me about her day. They had taken a small field trip today to the station and they had been to the city library. She told me she had seen a white Tesla, which she thought was beautiful, and she told me about a book about sharks that had very difficult words in it. Her glasses were filled with rain droplets and she was as exposed to the weather as much as I was, yet she was happily chirping about her day.
Her 5-year-old brother was sitting in the cargo bike in front of me. Soon enough he was whining about the coldness and then he started whining about the wetness. I completely understood how he felt, but I told him that at that point there wasn't much to do than go home and change clothes immediately.
My youngest, a 3,5-year-old, was sitting in the cargo bike right next to his brother. He was quiet the entire way, because he was tilting his head back while trying to catch raindrops with his tongue. He was absolutely content doing this for the entire way home.
Once we got home and got ourselves in dry, warm clothing, I told my sister-in-law about the kids' reactions on the bike, and about as much as I admired my daughter remaining so indifferent about the rain and my youngest even seizing the moment, I mostly identified with the grumpiness of my middle kid. She said this was clearly showing the different personalities they all were and I realized she was absolutely right.
So forget about internet personality tests and leave horoscopes be. Just put your kids in icy rain for a while. It will tell - well, at least it will tell you something about them.
 |
| My kids have proper rain attire. Too bad I had left it all at home. |
When we were leaving school, a boat was passing and our bridge was closed. Not to freeze while waiting, I decided it was better to keep on moving, and cycle through another bridge, even though it added half a kilometer.
Soon enough the rain had passed both my jacket and the thick sweater underneath and I felt the cold water against my skin. This wasn't the work of drizzle rain as much as my rain app tried to convince me so; this was proper rain. My pants were soaked, my shoes were wet. My wet hair made a nest between my scarf and my mouth every time I turned my head, which is something you need to do in traffic quite often. As much as I aim to stay positive, calm and collected, I was ready to scream out loud how miserable the weather made me at that moment.
My 9-year-old daughter was cycling next to me. She was telling me about her day. They had taken a small field trip today to the station and they had been to the city library. She told me she had seen a white Tesla, which she thought was beautiful, and she told me about a book about sharks that had very difficult words in it. Her glasses were filled with rain droplets and she was as exposed to the weather as much as I was, yet she was happily chirping about her day.
 |
| Photo from last autumn of my daughter cycling home from school. |
Her 5-year-old brother was sitting in the cargo bike in front of me. Soon enough he was whining about the coldness and then he started whining about the wetness. I completely understood how he felt, but I told him that at that point there wasn't much to do than go home and change clothes immediately.
My youngest, a 3,5-year-old, was sitting in the cargo bike right next to his brother. He was quiet the entire way, because he was tilting his head back while trying to catch raindrops with his tongue. He was absolutely content doing this for the entire way home.
 |
| Our vehicle is called bakfiets in Dutch. |
Once we got home and got ourselves in dry, warm clothing, I told my sister-in-law about the kids' reactions on the bike, and about as much as I admired my daughter remaining so indifferent about the rain and my youngest even seizing the moment, I mostly identified with the grumpiness of my middle kid. She said this was clearly showing the different personalities they all were and I realized she was absolutely right.
So forget about internet personality tests and leave horoscopes be. Just put your kids in icy rain for a while. It will tell - well, at least it will tell you something about them.
Comments
Post a Comment