Again! Again! My little grandson Joe’s voice was reaching fever pitch now, he was getting so excited. I repeated the rhyme again (for about the tenth time) but faster this time and wiggled my fingers again and pulled another face, which he tried to copy.
It was hard for him, trying to wiggle fingers, toes and pull a face all at the same time. Such co-ordination for a two year old is quite difficult however he was giving it his best and I had to laugh. A few seconds later, funny face successfully pulled, he was back. Again! Again!
Watch out, watch out, Jack Frost is about; he’s after your fingers and toes
I wished I could remember the rest of the rhyme, but was stuck with just the first line, so to keep things interesting I decided to take Joe out into the garden for a proper explore. Come on Joe let’s go out and find Jack Frost shall we?
It was chilly out so I helped Joe put his wellies on the right feet and his favourite blue bobble hat and mitts on and he helped me with mine (it’s funny how helpful two year olds want to be!) and off we went.
It was really cold outside, we’d had a dusting of snow and I realised that Jack Frost was everywhere! He got to my fingers and toes straight away, me being older and more susceptible, but Joe loved the white, glistening ice that covered everything from plant pots to the clothes prop. After a few minutes he got down to the serious business of looking around for Jack Frost himself.
I think he expected a small being with wiggly hands and feet (a bit like an ice leprechaun) to jump out at him, and I followed Joe, walking tentatively so as not to slip (I had my dodgy hip in mind and didn’t want to end up in the Emergency Department).
We looked up into the trees, behind the shed and under the plant pots but we couldn’t find Jack anywhere, so we decided to build a snow man instead. Looking at Joe’s glowing cheeks and nose, (and not being able to feel mine) I decided it was time to go back inside and thaw out with a warm drink. “Ok Joe shall we go inside and have a lovely drink and a biscuit? We can look for Jack later.” And so in we went, to warm up and keep old Jack Frost at bay.
As the weather turns chilly, either young or old, remember to stay warm, dress appropriately and take care if you’re venturing out.
And remember to watch out, Jack Frost is out and about! www.nhs.uk/livewell/winterhealth/pages/verycoldweather