December 7th 2008
Balcony jumping.

Sunday afternoon and the boys are out skiing with ski club. Said I might go with youngest but it is snowing heavily and don’t fancy it – fair weather skier that I am.
It has been like this since Friday night and there is approx 3 feet of snow in the garden. Kids spent the morning jumping off the trampoline, garage roof, and finally I hear the boys heading up the stairs at the side of the house to the balcony 5 meters up.
I am just asking their father if this is really a good idea when eldest child soars past the kitchen window and lands in the garden. Waiting for his response I watch for eldest child to move. Eldest child smiles and waves at me, then shouts up to his more cautious younger brother to go ahead.
“Looks like it,” says partner watching eldest child climbing out of self made snow hole, “so long as they jump into fresh snow each time.”
I go upstairs and open window to shout out – to cold to actually go out – just as both let go of balcony and disappear. Youngest (6 year old) asks if she can do it. I say ‘no’. and feel better for at least showing some control over safety. Youngest is upset. Tell her she can when she’s 9. She tells me she jumped off the chalet balcony next door yesterday and it is only slightly lower.
Back down in the kitchen make myself busy whilst out of the corner of my eye see kids fly past the window whooping. Notice indoor compost pile in need of going outdoors but compost is under 3 feet of snow. Suggest to partner he could take the compost when he next goes out.
Partner looks up from his paper. “Have you actually been outside since Friday night?” he asks.
Think about it. Yesterday it was pouring with snow and he dropped boys to ski club and then went into town to buy a present for Middle Child’s friend’s birthday and picked up boys on way back. In the afternoon roads were really bad so partner took middle child to birthday party and picked him up.
"Only because you prefer to drive when it is snowing." I kind of admit.
"Only because you crash the car when it is snowing." he replies. I realise I have yet to tell him about slight incident Friday so knock on the window to tell boys that’s enough now as to my reckoning they’ve run out of fresh patches of snow - and it stops conversation.
Boys come in.
“That was great fun,” says middle child beaming. I remind middle child of when he was 6 and wished it would snow forever because he wanted to jump off the balcony. Middle child doesn’t miss a beat and turning to eldest says. “Hey yeah, if it carries on like this we could go off the roof.”