I had to laugh this morning. Children in Finland play outside almost every day, whether there's sun, rain or snow in the air. The only time that little ones are kept indoors is when the temperature gets below minus 15. (And no- to those of you reading this who are not Finnish, I am not joking. I am serious). At this point though, even Finns have to concede that it's a little chilly outside.
As I dropped Minttu off with her childminder this morning, her three little friends were already playing in the garden (it was only minus five), so I thought it would be a good opportunity to get a picture of them. They all duly came close to the camera and stood obediently as I took the picture. I take a lot of pictures, and as anyone with a camera will know, getting a good shot of four little ones is not always easy. However, this lot hardly moved. They stood completely still, stared at the camera and remained motionless - as though they were on guard duty outside Buckingham Palace. I tried to get them to smile...but they were having none of it. Playing in the snow is a serious business, especially when you are under five. It is no laughing matter. Minttu especially (bottom right in the pics) made that very clear.
So I took my pictures, thanked them all for their time and left the four girls to continue their important work.
2 comments:
Of course they stood still. No one can move with that many layers on!
Genuine smiles are prettier than picture smiles anyway. And most kids still play outside at -15°C or lower, that's just the range where schools will allow them to stay inside. Most of them go outside anyway! ;)
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