Snow Day!

Mother Nature was in a celebratory mood on the eve of Obama's oath of office and it snowed last night. A fresh coating of her finest fairy dust, a gift in honor of our new president. We are so grateful for both. Snow has a way of accentuating little personality traits in each of us and today was a perfect example. Here is how our family (dogs included) reacted to the snow:

Jacob woke me up early, and I mean early, to inform me that he would not be needing breakfast this morning as he would be out in the snow immediately after our little bedside chat. Would I come out with him? Would I please find his snow pants, boots, and the 6,000 other items he'd be needing to enjoy the snow? When would I get out of bed, really? Would hot chocolate be served today? And the questions continued..... As soon as he could, he ran outside with the enthusiasm of a man set free from a burning building and ran about wildly making his mark on as much of the untouched snow as fast as he possibly could. The rest of the day was spend coming in and out of the house for costume changes and food breaks.

Gavin woke up at his usual time, looked out of the front window, and cheerily remarked on how the snow was covering " the whole place up!" He followed Jacob outside, fell in a ditch in our front yard and stood there crying because, really, snow is wet and cold. Post rescue, he remained inside for quite some time, peaceful in the knowledge that the snow was out there and he was in here. Take two: Gavin could later be found walking around in the snow, taking in the sights and sounds of his brother and neighborhood friends sledding and playing. He stood at the top of the sledding hill watching and laughing as the kids and parents went down. Eventually, he would go down the hill many times with his dad who patiently waited for him to do so. At the end of the day, the snow was fun, but still suspect, and the highlight of his day was playing Boggle Jr. and doing his train puzzle with his beloved dad who he had ALL to himself because Jacob was outside. Pure bliss...

Brad willingly went along in the direction that the kids took him. He was out there with Jacob in the wee hours, he rescued Gavin from the cold and wet snow, and he supervised the sledding WAY past the time I was willing to be out there. Later, he indulged me as I "forced" the kids to watch Obama get sworn in and talked to their little brains about why this was such an important day for our country. He did not even roll one eye. I can be a little much sometimes. The remainder of his day was spent playing with Gavin, making snacks, and pleading with me to not buy Fiber One bars ever again because Gavin had just made his 5th trip to the potty. He noted each visit and felt very,very sorry for his boy. He's the details parent.

Meg greeted the snow day with mixed feelings. On the one hand, the kids were excited and I was happy to think about the fun that lay ahead for their day. On the other hand, visions of wet floors, masses of soggy clothes, constant comings and goings and my own personal desire to stay warm and dry left me feeling a little tired ...sigh .... So sad, too bad as Jacob would say! Suck it up Meg! I spent the day in my usual flurry of activity knocking about like a ping pong ball meeting little needs and in between hiding out under the flag of "needing to study" which was really just me trying to catch glimpses of inaugural coverage. My favorite parts of the day were in the following order: 1.) Coming inside after being out to my warm granny slippers and hot chocolate.
2.) Watching my kids have a ball sledding and enjoying a quick memory of sledding down a similar hill at my elementary school with all of my friends and 3.) Recapping the day with Jacob as we sat together later that night in our PJ's. Oh, and thinking about Gavin laughing at the top of the snow hill. I love that boy.

Saki and Malcolm enjoyed the snow too. Saki has always loved snow, running and rolling in it when it comes around every so often. He's an old boy now but acted like a puppy again, racing about the yard with snow all over his nose and ears. It was so sweet to watch and actually almost made me cry. Malcolm, who is by his very wiener dog nature, normally such a sissy little thing acted happy to get out in the snow and raced around as well. He must have seen Saki out there hamming it up and didn't want to be outdone.

Our snow day was a fun one and I hope we have some more this winter. If we had a do- over I would calm my insides down about the mess and more graciously accept the tiny bit of chaos that a change in routine brings to our lives. It's like my mother always said (no, not really), snow days separate the women from the girls. Tomorrow I think I'll let the kids push me down the hill if there's any snow left :)