It wasn't so bad at that point in his life. In fact, Winter was the most exciting month of them all for young Ivan. It was the time of year when he got on best with his sisters. Maybe there was some kind of magic in the snow that seemed to constantly be falling in his home village.
But every time Winter revisits, it gets crueller and crueller, and it seems like those magical months that Ivan spent playing in the snow with his sisters will never return. Instead, years of isolation and hiding are what Ivan has become accustomed to.