Snow Creatures: Practicing Hope

"Are you going out to shovel or play?" my daughter asked me. It was the first snowfall we'd had for a long time. I was bundling up in gloves, hat, boots, and coat.

"Shovel," I said. That was the plan.

There wasn't much snow, so it took me about five minutes to shovel the sidewalk. On my way back toward the house, I decided our tree needed a snow bird.

"A snow bunny might be fun to try," I thought to myself. So I made him next. The snow was very powdery and stuck to my gloves more than it stuck to itself, but I did what I could.

Then the children came outside. "I guess you decided to play after all," my daughter said.

"I guess so," I said.

I wanted to try making another creature. "What should I make for this branch?" I asked. I didn't tell her I thought about making a squirrel because I was afraid I couldn't do it.

"A squirrel," said my daughter.

That's when I knew I needed to push the fear away and HOPE that I could do it. I would concentrate on what I was doing rather than on the fear that I couldn't do it. She made the tail. I wanted to make one out of bark, but she had a better idea. So I made the front and made his ears out of bark. But then I was having trouble figuring out how to do the arms.

"Maybe he could hold a nut," said my son.

So we found an acorn. I think that solved the problem.

When we were all done he said, "We should have a snowball fight."

"I don't want to," I said.

"Awww," he said.

So I threw a snowball at him and took off running. He and his sister pounded me back with at least ten.