I checked the weather forecast for Chicago and saw that the high on Thursday is supposed to be seven degrees. And, oh, by the way, winter doesn’t begin for another six days after that.Mother Nature—cruel, demented lass that she is—graced us this past weekend with a preview of what’s to come: snow. Days and weeks and inches and feet of snow. We’ll get so much snow that three months from now even the kids will be tired of it.But this weekend it was still new and exciting, so I decided to take three of my kids sledding. And since it’s early in the snow season, and—despite what I’m about to write—sledding is damn fun, I figured I’d take this opportunity to provide a few tips that will help improve your sledding experience.A successful sledding outing begins long before you reach the hill. It demands thought and preparation, otherwise the whole thing can turn into a giant pain in the ass.It may seem obvious, but you’ll want to dress warm. There’s snow out there, which means it’s cold. If you’re sledding during a snowstorm, there’s a good chance it’s going to be windy, too. So dress appropriately. In fact, assume it’s going to be windy because even if you don’t feel the wind when you step out your front door, you’ll feel it when you’re at the top of the hill. Don’t be surprised.But even before you get dressed you have to prepare. I had my kids layer: two pairs of socks, two pairs of pants, t-shirt, sweatshirt, second sweatshirt, coat. Unfortunately, what I didn’t do was have them use the bathroom before they put on all of those clothes.Not a big deal for my sons, but my six-year-old daughter’s base layer was a pair of footie pajamas. As we walked out the door I remembered that no one went to the bathroom, so I asked if she had to go. She assured me she didn’t.Fast forward 45 minutes, and I’m at the bottom of the hill, looking up at her standing at the top of the hill, shaking her legs in the universal sign for “I have to pee.”We were at a park. The bathrooms were locked. And she had footie pajamas on beneath two layers of clothes. I had no choice but to take her home. (I'll be damned if I'm taking her to a public restroom in this situation.) After some negotiation my two sons talked me into letting them stay, so I raced home, unlocked the door, and helped my daughter remove layer after layer of clothes while she swayed from one foot to the other.Don’t forget to use the bathroom before getting dressed.Now for some sledding etiquette that might keep you from getting killed.First, obey the line. Most people at the top of the hill were patient and waited for their turn to go down the hill. But there were a couple of teenagers who assumed the rest of us were standing around for no reason, and just passed us, threw down their sleds, and took off.I rooted for them to fall off of their sleds.Also, at the end of your run, whether you make it all the way down or not, do not try to walk back up the middle of the hill. This seems like common sense, and most of the offenders were pre-teen and teenage kids, but there was one dopey husband who had to be reminded by his wife that he should walk off to the side before climbing the hill.I think sledding etiquette also states that if some nincompoop decides to walk up the middle of the hill they’re fair game. I don’t usually condone violence, but if you see someone walking up the middle of your sledding hill after they’ve been reminded not to do so, then you should try to run them over. Even if you miss you’re likely to put a scare into the wayward fellow, so maybe you won’t have to deal with their idiocy again.When you get to the bottom of the hill, please don’t forget that you’re at the bottom of a sledding hill.Some poor teenage girl forgot where she was, and congregated near the bottom of the hill with her friends. My twelve-year-old son slid down the hill, and with no chance of steering his sled, he plowed right into her. She flipped over head-first, like I’ve seen on America’s Funniest Home Videos 10,000 times. Luckily, she wasn’t hurt, but it could have been bad news.Sleds are hard to steer, so it’s the responsibility of the person standing at the bottom of the hill to ensure that they don’t get run over.That should do it. Follow my advice and you’ll have a blast.Winter sucks for the most part, so get out there and enjoy one of the few bright spots in an otherwise dismal season. And be sure to post pictures on Facebook so your jerk friends who live in warm weather locales can be jealous of your sledding fun.Oh, and some hot chocolate afterward doesn’t hurt either.Click here to receive an e-mail each time I write a new post! Guaranteed spam-free, unsubscribe any time IF YOU LIKED THIS POST I BET YOU'LL ALSO LIKE: Why Winter SucksPREVIOUS POST: Without Gratitude Do We Have Anything?