Puddle jumping in wellies

My little girl, her name is Holly, loves going and out about with me, she is very much daddy’s little girl. Sometimes, she can be quite a girly girl, but normally, she is quite happy to get her wellies on and get a little dirty, wet or just absolutely manky and covered in mud from head to toe.

As we live on the edge of some fields, her wellies are on more often than not during the winter months and this time last year our favourite past time was to go and walk the dog and see how much of a splash we could make in the various assorted and very muddy puddles.

We would do the puddle long jump championship and the puddle high jump championship and then there was the largest splash category which was my personal favourite. Such sports are hazardous and the dreaded muddy eye, wet bum and puddle foot are all very serious complaints for us athletic types.

Returning home would also be an adventure, as this time we would be cold, wet and muddy. She would ultimately be sitting on my shoulders making me equally as cold and wet and getting home to a warm fire side would be just as good as the splashing fun. Its and old saying, but entirely true, that kids having fun don’t ever feel the cold. I am of course just a big child at heart and I’m not one of these parents that tells my kids to walk around puddles or don’t kick through the autumn leaves as long as they are dressed appropriately for the occasion.

I would be a little upset if she did this in the nicest party dress, but a pair of wellies, old jeans, thick socks and an old coat, thick scarf, hat and gloves are just what’s required for our dog walking shenanigans.

Naturally, as you will understand, her mother didn’t think that our puddle jumping escapades were quite as funny as we did. Trying to sneak in the front door, leaving a trail of muddy clothes and foot prints over the wood floors proved to be more risky than the puddle jumping.

A hot shower and a change of clothes later and its all good, but it’s these daft little moments that you remember as your children grow older. If I ever have grandchildren, I think that I will definitely take them puddle splashing and risk the wrath of the mothers and hope that they remember the days when they did it too.

In the words of Billy Connolly, there is no such thing as bad weather, just the wrong clothes.