Snow day Philosophy

For working outside the home parents (and probably even "stay at home working parents" now that I think about it) snow days can go either way: they are joyful, on one hand, but are challenging on the other. You get the news and you want to be happy, as happy as your kids are. But the "work" part of you is saying, "Oh, crap! What am I going to do with the kids all day!??!". I know we have it easysince we both work from home, so we didn't have to deal with daycare issues or anything, we just had to adjust our workdays and tag team it.

So, after the first few minutes of "Oh, crap!" I decided that how you handle snow days can really be a metaphor for how you handle life in general. Do you look at it as a blessing? ie: Wow, a whole day to enjoy the winter wonderland with sledding, making snowmen, snowball fights, drinking hot cocoa, watching too many movies, coloring, playing card games, and playing too many video games. Or, do you look at it as a hassle. ie: Ugh! How am I going to entertain the kids all day while also getting my work done?? I decided I really wanted to try to view it from the kids' point of view (half full vs. half empty) and remember that my work that doesn't get done today will just get done tomorrow. Nothing is that urgent. The snow may be gone tomorrow (although it really doesn't look like it...) so we might as well enjoy it today.

We started the day with a trek through the freshly fallen snow to Grandma's house (she arrived

last night) with her half-and-half in hand (she had left it at our house). We spent some time playing there, then came home to shovel the driveway and sidewalk (everyone helped and that actually made it a lot of fun- plus our neighbor and his daughter were outside so it felt so wintery and neighborly to do it together!). Then I took the boys sledding (Faith didn't want to come), came home and made up some grilled cheese sandwiches, then plugged them in so I could take a conference call without interruption.

Now it has stopped snowing and the plows are running and the day is winding down (or at least it feels like it should be- it is actually only 3:00). Faith was just lying on the kitchen floor twirling around on her belly. She looked up at me and said, "Mommy, why is this day never going to end??" So, apparently, she is now bored and ready to get on with real life again. On the other hand, the boys just left with their sleds, bundled up in their winter gear, ready to build "jumps" for their sled hill. As they ran out the door they called back, "Can we make hot chocolate when we get back? And then can we all go in the hot tub together? And can we go to the library after that??" They are still embracing this gift- the extra day off in the middle of a work week. And the more I think about it, so am I.