Thursday 15 March 2007

Springtime

“Is it spring yet?” my daughter asks urgently from the back of the car. It’s the second time she has asked this question on this one journey already. Multiply that by the number of minutes in the day and you can imagine how often the query comes up. “Erm ... nearly.” is my stock response. “Why?” she asks. “Because it’s getting warmer.” “Why?” It’s a pantomime. She has had a fascination for the seasons since I started trying to explain the weather some time ago. Initially spring came about a day after winter, which in turn followed autumn by about two minutes. Now her appreciation is becoming more subtle and she seems to be on her way to grasping the concept. Not as quickly as I am losing my sanity though.

But is it spring yet? Some say nowadays that it starts on March 1st, and it certainly feels like it has. But I am sticking to the old-fashioned March 20th, the date of the vernal equinox. I want it to be spring for her sake, but I don’t want to mislead her. I hardly dare dream of the joyful day when spring finally arrives. Mind you, then she’ll start asking about summer.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I've heard its going to snow early next week - now that will really confuse her (and us!). My daughter, aged 3, is also becoming interested in the seasons but its much more simple for her - a sunny day means it's summer and a wet one, winter!

Single Mother on the Verge said...

Hello Stay at Home Dad. Why are you a stay at home dad? And more to the point, can you multi-task: by which I mean, wash dishes, do homework, cook and hang the washing on the line whilst solving someone else's relationship crisis?

I can't. I'm sick of living in what looks like the local tip.

Stay at home dad said...

jo, I just read that. Not really looking forward to it myself. Still, what with being drunk watching rugby all Saturday it won't matter much... I like your daughter's logic though.

smotv, why? because my wife was keen to get back to work and I didn't like my job. No, of course I can't multitask! Strictly one thing at a time and not many of them at that. And cleanliness is definitely over-valued.