“Mama, can we go outside and play?”

“No silly goose, it’s dark out!”

“But mama, we have flashlights!”

It is 7pm on a Tuesday night in November, pitch black and COLD. But hey, she has a point. Why not?

Since that one night, the idea of a wintertime-evening-outdoor-romp has evolved into a new tradition of ours. We have gone for a skate on the pond at 6:45pm. We have taken a stroller ride around town at 7pm. We have gone to see the twinkling white lights on the tree on the common at 7:30pm. Last night we were out in the dark in the snow, making snow angels and tracing shapes in the untouched powder. We have a flashlight after all. And we have coats.

This new tradition embodies the open-minded enthusiasm that children bring to our lives, it is a snapshot of parenthood at its best. Who else could have the power to drag me off the cozy couch to go outside in the cold, in the dark? No one but my three year old.