Too Soon for Winter!

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The weather people have been threatening us for days and now as I write this post, there is white stuff swirling and twirling down from the sky. I guess maybe we North Dakotans should have known that we were going to have an early winter, beings our summer was actually more like fall. But still...it is truly sad to see the green leaves falling off of the trees without even having a chance to turn color first.

It is also truly sad that parents have had to dig out their kids' winter attire, including mittens and boots. I know it can be difficult getting kids all bundled up to go out in the 20-degree weather, as we are having now. But for parents of kids in wheelchairs, it is not just difficult, it is a chore unto itself.

Faith's new chair, while she sits in it so well, is truly a pain when it comes to her winter garb. She has these side lateral things that help her stay in an upright position. You can pop the laterals out which is great for getting her coat on but since she is then almost twice her normal size, the laterals keep popping out and when this happens, she falls sideways.

I'm not sure what's going to happen when she has to start wearing her snowpants. Is she even going to fit in her chair, I wonder.

The first chair she had was called a Kid Kart and we had a special cover for it to protect her from the wind when she is outside. This chair comes with no such thing. So far, I resort to putting a blanket over and around her legs and have her face covered with a sweatshirt of mine, which she doesn't like because she can't see anything. The Kid Kart cover had a special little window so she could still see. I guess we'll need to figure something out.

I think some people think I am a little crazy for walking my child to school in this cold weather but really, by the time I get her to the car, into the car, her chair taken apart, drive down the street, put her chair back together, get her into her chair, strap her into her chair and take her inside, I might as well have just walked her to school in less time.

I do wonder, however, how it will be trying to get her chair through the snow when it actually accumulates on the ground. I tried it last year and her chair just didn't budge in the snow. Hopefully this winter we will not have another 100 inches.

Ah, yes, the dilemmas that winter brings with it. Why couldn't winter hold off for another month or maybe even two?

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