City Sledding!

I didn't know it was possible either. I mean really, who sleds in New York City? Answer: this girl. And other answer: you need to try it too!

We got almost a foot of snow in the city last night. Youth group got canceled, which really bummed me out. We've been trying to get it started for months now but have only had a handful of kids show up for any given event. Last night we were expecting twelve kids-- more than twice our record high! We held out canceling as long as we could, but soon it was clear that it just wouldn't be smart to ask people to go out in that weather.

But wait! If we have to cancel on account of snow, let's do something else with the snow, right??! Our options, as we saw them, were snow football and sledding. There was definitely more interest in sledding. And really, only two slight hurdles to overcome: 1. Where does one go sledding in NYC? and 2. What does one use for a sled in NYC?

The first hurdle was actually pretty easy. Thank you, Google. Pilgrim Hill in Central Park-- done and done! Next hurdle.... sleds. I was sure that one of the ghetto five and dime stores in East Harlem would sell magic saucers, so I headed out in the snow and trudged from one store to another....

Excuse me, do you sell sleds?
:: blank stare ::
Um, do you sell anything for riding down hills in the snow?
"Sorry, I no know wha you mean."
Magic saucers? Sleds? Anything for playing in the snow?
"Sorry, I no think so."

We got a little farther at the next store. There they offered me a snow shovel. At least they understood I needed something related to snow. But I just didn't have a good feeling about having kids riding down a hill on a snow shovel. I wandered around the store and started to get an idea. I texted my youth group co-leader: "How ghetto is okay?" Thankfully he was up for it and had a stash of cardboard. So I grabbed some super high quality $1.49 shower curtain liners and one vinyl laundry bag and headed downtown, where we began to put our awesome crafting skills to work. An hour later we had three epic sled-type creations. One was toboggan-style, and the other two were smaller, flying saucer versions.

We met the rest of the group at the park and headed over to the sledding hill. Some of the boys had found legit sleds (not to say ours weren't "legit"; but stores recognized and declared theirs to be such.... I'm not sure they would have given ours that same designation) and two of them had brought buggy boards.

Things I learned today:
1. a lot of people go sledding in NYC
2. a lot of the people who go sledding in NYC find out where to go sledding in NYC by asking Google
3. this means that sledding in NYC means you will run into people as you sled down a hill
4. the best homemade sled is made by putting cardboard into a vinyl laundry bag (it was actually even more popular than some of the "legit" sleds)
5. sledding is still one of the most fun things ever-- even if it's not the biggest, steepest, best hill and you don't have a real, legitimate sled.

Bottom line: you should reclaim your childhood. Don't make excuses. "I live in a city" and "I don't own a sled" are not valid reasons not to get outside and enjoy the snow.

Trust me on this one.

And you can thank me later.