It is Never Too Late to Act Like a Kid Again

It was a cold and snowy day two years ago when a co-worker noticed something unusual outside our office window. “Come here!” he motioned excitedly to all of us, “You have to see this!” We all ran to the window and looked out at the school across the street that was surrounded by large hills. “Look,” he pointed, “At the two people sledding!”

We all squinted to catch a glimpse of the couple as they tore down the hill on their respective toboggans. There was a collective gasp as we all realized the same thing at the same time. I turned to a co-worker and exclaimed, “I can’t believe it!” There they were—a man and a woman we guessed to be around eighty years old—sledding down the hill at excessive speeds and having a great time doing it. As they reached the bottom of the hill time and time again, they high-fived each other, laughed hysterically, and tromped back up the hill for another try. We stood there for quite a while, chatting amongst ourselves about how much we admired that couple for their youthful attitude. Even though the couple eventually left and we never saw them again, the message they unintentionally shared with us that day stayed with me—it is never too late to act like a kid again.

Recently, our city was "lucky" enough to receive 26 inches of snow in a two-week period. My daughter begged me to take her sledding day after day, so finally I relented on one of the balmiest mornings (it was zero). I bundled her up and drove her to a local hill. Normally, I would have sat in the warm car with a thermos of hot cocoa and waited for her to finish, but on this day, I decided things were going to be different. I slipped on a pair of waterproof gloves and a scarf as my daughter asked, “What are you doing, Mom?”

“I’m going sledding! I replied, purposely leaving out the important fact that it had been more than thirty years since I had even sat on a sled. She grinned and clapped her hands together. We trudged through knee-high drifts until we reached the top of the hill. She placed the orange saucer sled in the snow.

“You go first,” she said.

I swallowed hard as I looked down the hill. I didn’t remember a hill being this steep when I sledded as a child. “Come on Mom,” my daughter patted the sled. “It’s really not as scary when you sit criss-cross applesauce.”

I hopped on the sled, crossed my legs, and closed my eyes. I was suddenly ten years old again with bright red cheeks, fogged-up cat glasses, and my best friend by my side. I placed my hands down in the cold snow and rocked my sled—back and forth—until I built up enough momentum to let go. I opened my eyes and screamed as the sled tore down the hill.  I felt fear, excitement, and I really had to go to the bathroom, but most importantly, I was having fun … and not just a little fun, but the kind of fun that makes for a great story at the dinner table.  When I reached the bottom of the hill, I fell off the sled and lay there in the snow just as I did when I was a kid. I stared at the sky, felt the cold air on my cheeks, and thought there was no place I’d rather be. As I slowly began to move my arms and legs back and forth, I formed a beautiful adult snow angel who still had the soul of a child.

Someone once said “We all want to live a long time, but no one wants to get old.”  A Spirited Woman will always find a way to feel young again, no matter what her age. So the next time it snows where you live, go out and find a good hill. Put your sled at the top, close your eyes, sit criss-cross applesauce, and let go.

You’re going to have a great story to tell at the dinner table.

- Vicky De Coster - www.wackywomanhood.com
Click here for more of Vicky's posts. 

She's baaaack ... and badder than ever! A former member of the original Spirited Woman Blogger Team, Vicky DeCoster is an award-winning humor writer and the author of Husbands, Hot Flashes, and All That Hullabaloo! and The Wacky World of Womanhood. She has been published in over 60 magazines, books, and on several web sites. Vicky lives in Nebraska with her husband and two children where she is working on her third book of humorous essays.

Comments

[Skipper Kim]

Hooray for Wacky Womanhood and your fun post, Vicky. Skipping is my favorite way to feel like a kid again. Check out the link to my iskip.com website below! :-) Sled on! Skip on!