No such thing as bad weather

Nicky and Laney riding a snow unicorn


Norwegians have a saying, "Det er ikke dårlig vær, bare dårlige klær." It means, "There's no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes."

Of course, even Norwegians know that's not true. Otherwise, they wouldn't be spending millions of kroner to flock to warm-weather locales and chase the sun.

BUT what I love about this saying is the attitude behind it. Basically, the weather isn't an excuse for not being outside. With rare exception, say, a blizzard, Norwegians are out and about in the cold. You simply dress for the weather and go out in it. If you're outside and your feet are cold, then you have on the wrong shoes. It's simple. It is, in fact, true.

Take being cold out of the picture and you really can enjoy yourself when it's cold outside. I love to watch my kids playing in the snow. They have a blast. I love to play in the snow with them. We can do so many things that I didn't get to do as a kid -- build snowmen, go sledding, and ski. Nicky's been on skis since he was two years old. Laney will start this year. When they come in from the cold, they have this beautiful fresh color in their cheeks and sparkly eyes.

Unless the temperature is below -10 degrees C (+14 degrees F) or a very strong, cold wind, kids are expected to play outside. They are dressed in head-to-toe wool and then have a snowsuit over that. It's a lot of clothes, and it's a pain in the ass to get them dressed, but once they are out, they have so much fun.

Don't get me wrong, I miss the days of one layer. I had no idea how easy we had it in California when we'd put baby Nicky in a light-weight outfit, buckle-him into his carseat and off we'd go. If the weather was California cold, we had a light blanket to toss over him. That was it. Now it's layers, layers, layers. Layers for Nicky, layers for Laney, layers for me. And if one of us needs to pee within ten minutes of being out, it's enough to make me cry.

Of course, it's easier to keep things in perspective when one lives in the northern part of Norway if one has family and friends living in Hawaii. . .a visit to Grandma and Grandpa means a visit to a land of perpetual summer. We really do get the absolute best of both worlds!

Nicky and Laney at the beach

So bring on the snow, we can take it!