Snow Schmow

I've decided to give myself the terrible parent award this week. Some days, I feel like, "yeah, I've got this parenting thing down!" Then there are days like today when I think, "I hope they don't hold this against me when they're older!"

I hate snow. Like really hate snow. This hatred of snow has intensified since moving to the South and having the blissful life of well, rarely ANY snow! Now don't get me wrong, I think snow is beautiful. It has a magical ability of inspiring children to sit quietly watching snowflakes fall to the ground for extended amounts of time, causes deep feelings of wanting to snuggle up together and drink hot chocolate and it gives children in school the heightened drama of snow days.

It also causes mass hysteria at our house and you'd think they've never seen snow. (They have, honestly, a few times). It also causes puddles and ridiculously cold little fingers that refuse to keep mittens on. Snow causes terrible roads, stupid drivers, snow days.

It causes tears. Lots of tears. Tears because we want to play in the snow. Tears because the snow is cold and we don't want to play in the snow. Tears because the snow is melting. Tears because the snow is snowing at night when you can't see it. Tears because you don't know what snow is and it's scary. I can go on and on here.

See? Tears because we don't understand snow.

So, obviously, we had a snow day today. The drama leading up to how much we’d accumulate was exciting and the kids loved watching and waiting to see it start to fall. The idea of being stuck inside without the ability to drive since North Carolinians don’t know how to handle an inch or two of snow did not sound like fun.

Heck, my own driving in snow abilities are lacking since its been nearly three years since I’ve had to regularly drive in the fluffy wet stuff.

Yesterday, as we were running errands before The Storm hit, everyone who saw me and all the kids had to tell me, “Oh, it’s snowing! The kids are going to love it.” And “I bet you can’t wait to play in the snow tomorrow.”

As it started falling and we talked to friends and family, everyone asked: “Have you played in the snow yet?”

I easily passed off yesterday as a bust because it didn’t start really snowing until dinner and by then it was dark and freezing... Coming up with a reason to avoid the snow today, however, was a different beast.

My Facebook newsfeed today was filled with mothers enthusiastically gushing about how wonderful the snow day was and what all snow-type events they would be participating in with their children. Now to save some face here, I would love a good dumping of a foot of snow so we could go sledding and build a real snowman. However, maybe just for the day....so scratch that. I'd rather drive to someone else's large dumping of snow and back to my warm, snow-free home.

But I digress.

I awoke to the sounds of glee coming from Emery and Cohen because the snow was covering everywhere we could see. While we heard the plows working all night, the roads surrounding us weren't deemed busy enough to get scraped, so it truly looked like a winter wonderland.

I had an online meeting for work that I couldn't miss this morning, so in my head, I planned to drag out all the snow gear at lunch and hit the snow in the afternoon after naps were had by all.

By 11 a.m. it was readily apparent that the snow was quickly disappearing and getting wetter by the minute. Road surfaces were visible as snow began melting away, and my dead grass was once again poking through.

By noon, I knew it was now or never. And, despite my deep desire to avoid it altogether, I knew the disappointed sounds of my children and hearing them repeat for the next three days to every stranger we saw, that no, their mother wouldn't let them out in the snow, would be too heartbreaking to listen to.

So the solution? Tell the kids Daddy was taking them out at lunchtime. We sprung that nice little surprise on Drew when we arrived home at lunch, giving him 10 minutes to woof down lunch and change into warmer attire. I banked on the fact that A) He couldn't refuse his children begging him to play in the snow once they were already dressed and ready and B) He's really just a large child himself, and wouldn't want to miss an opportunity to play in the snow.

Cohen was on Drew's heels sweeping up the snow

Em was really excited she figured out
how to roll a snowball this year.

This kid will sweep anything..snow, grass, dirt...

Luckily, I know my husband.  Problem solved. Bundling the kids up and grabbing my camera, we ran outside for 15 minutes of snow time before Daddy had to go back to work. Drew and Emery quickly set out to make Olaf, the snowman from Frozen, our favorite movie right now.

Olaf

Bryn didn’t appreciate being stuck inside at the door, so we brought her out to briefly experience the snow. She ended up not being fond of the experience once she reached the snow. Cohen, likewise, was super pumped to play in the snow until he reached out and grabbed a big handful. Then he screamed like someone dumped coffee on his hands because it was wet and cold.

Almost there!

All in all, our short venture out into the snow turned out as well as can be expected. Two out of three children cried at least twice during the fifteen minute ordeal, a snowman was built, everyone was able to say they "played in the snow," my entryway is littered with coats, hats, scarves, socks and wet boots. I didn't have to actually play in the snow myself, and, smile, the snow is almost melted.

At this rate, school should still be on for tomorrow. No more snow days at this house. :)

EDIT: Sigh...as I posted this, I literally received the email stating school is canceled again tomorrow. At least there's no snow :)