This is Kansas, not Rockefeller Center

One thing Joshua really likes about our new house is the big backyard. There is a huge lot behind us with a small creek and pond, some trees, and lots of area for exploring. Although we haven't gotten a whole lot of snow, it has been bone-chilling cold. So last week, we finally got a couple good days of snow, but it is a very powdery snow, not a wet snow like Arkansas, so there were no snowballs or snowmen. But when you are 12, snow is snow, so of course he wanted to be out in it.

He bundled up nice and warm and headed out. He was outside playing for quite some time, but finally came in. As he was warming up by the fire, he told me of all of his adventures of the morning. I was kind of half-listening, but quickly perked up when he mentioned walking across the pond. Oh wait, "what was that, you walked across the pond????" This was no longer just a story, but the beginning of a mother's worst nightmare, so of course I needed more details. Not to worry, he tells me, "I jumped up and down on it before I walked across to make sure it was frozen solid." I stopped him there, as the story was getting worse, and I had to say something before the steam came out of my ears. It didn't take long for him to recognize that this was one of those "big deals" that would not be quietly overlooked.

To really drive in the point, we pulled out the "Man vs. Wild" episode where Bear Grylls falls into a freezing pond and almost doesn't survive. Needless to say, the child whom I have always bragged on for his common sense, is no longer allowed anywhere near the pond. I've assured him that if he wants to go ice skating in the future, I will take him to a rink.