1. Ever since I experienced winter many years ago I hated it. The paralyzing cold, the need for layering, and itchy rashes all over the body.

Overall winter for me is something that creates lots of inefficiency in normal day to day activity.

Meanwhile Mae loves the cold weather. Now that its also a cold Christmas, she’s doubly happy!

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2a. Now that I am older, and father to 2 energetic kids, I cannot afford to have such a negative attitude towards winter and the cold.

I declare to enjoy this vacation no matter how relentlessly intrusive the cold can be.

2b. Mae helped me prepare well. From previously relying on borrowed clothes from older siblings, she made sure I was well equipped with all layers to protect me from the cold.

Normally on trips Mae has 2-3 sets of clothes more than me. This is the first time I packed more clothes than Mae.

2c. The rest of the battle against winter however is mine to fight. Before the flight I read up on breathing techniques to warm up the body. I started taking cold showers. I’ve exercised consistently 2-3x a week, and walking 10k steps daily since September to make sure I had the strength for this trip.

Additionally while normally I set the aircon to the perfect temperature of 27 C… I set it to 16 C a few nap times to start getting used to the cold.

Hopefully this is enough for me to ‘Win’ in this Winter-mission.

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3. We have prepared as much as we can, and now the only thing left to do is enjoy.

As such here is my post of appreciation to winter.

– Thank you for cold toilet seats. Nothing else makes you want to finish business fast to warm up your bum.

– Normally you also do not want to be the 2nd or 3rd person to use the toilet. But during winter others people warming up the seat more than justifies the extra scents left behind.

– Thank you for the heavy coats, layers and boots. These extra weights only make me burn more calories while we tour. I will gladly enjoy the extra food I can eat because of this!

– Thank you winter that I get to now feel and take care of my ears, for the past I have been taking them for granted.

– Thank you that every morning and night you let me carress and massage every inch of my body with deeply moisturizing lotion.

– Thank you winter for teaching me the value of doing things in the right way each day as I layer clothes.

(From bare nakedness the order is:
1. Moisturize face.
2. Lotion groin area.
3. Underwear.
4. Lotion entire body.
5. Heattech shirt.
6. Heattech leggings making sure shirt is tucked in.
7. Wool socks next so leggings don’t climb up.
8. Long sleeve shirt.
9. Pants.
10. Sweater.
11. Boots.
12. Facemask to protect the nose and eyes.
13. Glasses.
14. Bonnet.
15. Put wallet, keys, phone in pants.
17. Gloves.
18. Coat.

* The key in this order is interlocking layers so that heat doesnt get inside where the clothing pieces join, like in the waist, wrist and ankle areas.

– Thank you winter for teaching us patience as we do the exact same thing for the kids.

(On a side note I there was one time Mika told me she had to poop which she can already do by herself. So I told her, okay go to the toilet.

A minute later I heard her crying. The interlocking layers was giving her trouble as she was trying to pull down her pants but instead was grabbing her shirt.)

– Thank you winter for making water thats left out of the fridge to be colder!

– Thank you winter for teaching me to stay humble and to never underestimate the initial feelings of warmth or cold. To never say “I think I can handle this without a bonnet, gloves or 1 less layer”.

– Thank you winter for the satisfaction when I’m about to take a shower and I place the clothes I’m about to wear near the heater so I get to wear warm clothes right after.

Oh winter. I now realize you are a cruel game master. You severely punish those who are unprepared, while giving few rewards to those who do.

I see now that you do not cause inefficiency. But only demand the highest levels of it. And for that you no longer have my hate but my utmost respect.

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4. If asked if I am willing to live in a country with winter… my answer used to be a big NO.

Now I am undecided.

For now, let us continue playing.

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5. When it comes to the trip so far we realized that we underestimated the effort to go to places. A 5 minute walk woth the stroller, diaper bags, and 2 kids in the cold feels like 15.

Also, Baby Ju is still not feeling well and Mika has started to cough.

Given these, we have decided to take a few days break so the kids can just stay inside. Usually only one adult would just go on errands, or visit a mini food attraction to take home food.

We call these days (w)Intermissons.