The first time it snowed (for D's kids)

Last night, it snowed for the first time since we came. I was already under the duvet half asleep and Mr.D called me when he got back from the loo. "Snow". Yeah, sure... He was just trying to get me out from under my haven - NO WAY! But he managed to get me up to crawl to the window. Yeah, it was all white. Perhaps 1 cm thick (or thin), and the snow was still falling. He wanted to wake the kids up, but I insisted : N -O !! Abang has had this crazy idea that he doesn't want to sleep at all during the night. don't ask me what he wants to do to keep him awake. He said he didn't want to sleep ever. So, an excuse to get up from bed and watch the snow fall from the window or even sneak out to play, would certainly be a brilliant idea for him!!! We snapped photos from the window and I crept back under the wonderful warm duvet (15 tog tau!!!).

This morning, Abang walked into my room, "Mama, sakit perut..". I asked him to walk to the window and tell me what he saw. He said, "Apa? Kereta? Kenapa?" From under the duvet, we asked him to look closer (no, I wsn't ready to leave my wonderful warmth). "Cuba abang tengok betul-betul..". Then, the shriek, "Snoooooowwwwwwwwww!!!!" . And there wasn't any more pain. He went shouting to the rest, waking them up from bed . Aaaaah, if only it snowed on Mondays, it would be an excellent wake-up call!

Of course, this morning the snow had melted already. It wasn't as white as it was last night. Still, the boys went out to play with what little snow was around. Hopefully, it'll snow more today and tonight, and tomorrow. Meanwhile, brrrrrrrr...

Reflecting on Abang's reaction to snow this morning, I recalled another incident some months ago. A friend in Durham has not been feeling well with all sorts of physical and psychological trauma. We went to visit them. When we walked in the house, everything was gloomy. One child (B) was slumped in a chair, with a long face. Another (C) was lying on the sofa. They have had tummy upsets and were slightly feverish for the past week.

So, we came and tried to cheer them up with some care and excitement. Half an hour later, B was running down the stairs! "I feel grrrreeeeat!!!" He was grinning from ear to ear, and his arms were in the air. We laughed looking at him. Was this the same boy we saw half an hour ago, all gloomy and droopy?? Even little C had forgotten whatever was wrong with her!

The next day, we left the house feeling that our visit was indeed very worth it. We managed to cheer them up. Initially I thought that the visit should uplift my friend's low-spirits, but indeed it has cheered the whole family up! ALhamdulillah..

So, perhaps we should be wary of all the psychological elements out there.