Shr Jya Ting

Here are the kids playing happily in the snow. I'd like everyone to know how much courage it took for me to step away from the fireplace and actually outside for one minute in order to photograph them. I officially hate snow. I used to think that I just mostly hated it (e.g. when it gets dirty and icy) but that I did like it as it was falling softly to the ground. Nope. Not anymore. Even as it is falling softly to the ground all white and innocent I can only envision its sinful future of yellow urine spots, film of car exhaust grime and hidden icy patches like a million banana peel booby traps. Does anyone see any life analogies here? Did I ever mention that it never snows in Taiwan? Or that in Taiwan right now it is probably the season of smooth, white, firm daikons, sweet and crisp cabbage and probably ultra yummy green guavas and bell shaped lian wu? I am sending eternal thanks vibes to my favorite lovely guava vendor lady who always threw in another jin or two of slightly bruised but still extremely edible guavas into the sack of guavas that I actually paid money for. However, even as I cry about being separated from the bounty of a climate that doesn't freeze I still enjoyed watching the kids have so much fun. They have wanted a snow like this since we came back from Taiwan. In fact, it was one of the first things they said when we stepped onto American soil back in June of 2006, "Mom, where is the snow?" Lily was the first to discover how to make a ball big enough for a snowman. The boys had a snowball fight that surprisingly didn't end up in tears. And when they were finally cold enough to come inside I had an internal struggle about whether to be Type A Good Mom or Type B Good Mom. (Type A Good Mom wants to make her kids happy in the short term and feeds them junk food and Type B Good Mom wants to make her kids happy in the long term by ensuring strong bodies and vibrant health for their future). TAGM and TBGM are constantly arguing on my shoulders like the angel and devil on The Emporer's New Groove (there may be a few other similarities between me and Cronk, but if you know any please don't point them out!), so it's nothing new. And this time TAGM won and I actually made them some hot chocolate. (Okay, I used raw goats milk and seriously skimped on the sugar, but my sugar-starved kids loved it anyway). It was a good day.