Heavenly Hamakos: snow day.

Friday, January 30, 2009

snow day.

ok, so i'm not a stay at home mom. sometimes i wish i could, but i would be lying if i told you i only did it on the days were there was lots of dishes and laundry to be had. conveniently i get that feeling when there is a snow day. when i am THE only one that has to drag her sorry butt out of the warm and snuggly bed across the freezing cold tundra of my bedroom to the shower.

*sigh*

so we had our first snow day of the year this week. ok, so i know it was ridiculous given the fact that there was less than 2 inches of snow on the ground and i've had the opportunity in the past to live in connecticut where even with 36 inches of snow on the ground YOU GO TO SCHOOL. buses put chains on their wheels, and, well... case closed. (and yes little Sascha Obama, you were right... in CT not only would we have gone to school, we would've had recess in this weather, too!)

as a kid i loved snow days. NO SCHOOL! sleeping in, snacking all day long, tv on 24-7... and if i really wanted to take advantage of the day i didn't even have to brush my teeth if i didn't want to. but never, never EVER did i appreciate snow days for what they were. days to play in the snow.

in college i took a snowboarding class and really REALLY fell in love with the sport. but as some of you may recall, i got pregnant while finishing college and, well, never got the chance to really get into snow sports.

{and that's ok because this isn't about self-pity}

do you remember getting dressed in all sorts of layers with mittens on strings and itchy wooly hats? you know you do... because CERTAINLY i wasn't the only one with a mother concerned about me freezing but never really thinking about my level of comfort.

{but as a woman, i should be used to this concept, right?

i mean, two words for you... high heels.}

i really don't remember enjoying the snow that much, but my memories are going to be different from my mom's, i'm sure of it. now...all these years later...i was excited. i had three kids to get bundled up in long johns, snow pants, mittens on strings, and itchy wooly hats. only, the long johns were tights, the snow pants were still snow pants, the mittens on strings were mittens NOT on strings {oh how i wished they were on strings}, and the itchy wooly hats were now made of fleece. {why didn't they have fleece in the 70's?} but i wasn't the least bit discouraged and thankfully {which this is the only time i can say this} at least one of them was in diapers, meaning, that was one less i was going to have to frantically strip out of 5 layers of clothing for a last minute potty decision.

all of this for... say it with me...

less than 2 inches of snow.

maybe the snow day wasn't really about the snow, as much as it was the opportunity to relive my youth through my kids. and maybe, probably maybe, it was the mental relief i needed from the past two weeks of professional anguish i was going through away from home. but i needed it. and not that i even got to participate in all of the day's activities, but i did get to use my lunch hour that day watching my kids have the time of their lives.

this particular snow day was monumental for one main reason... it snapped me back out of the stress that exists as work. did you know my kids think i'm funny? did you know i now reMEMber my kids think i'm funny? i had forgotten how theraputic laughter really is. i'm not saying my kids didn't stress me out this week, but i was better equipped to handle it all because i had the joy and gift of laughter back in my life...

all thanks to my children.

and a snow day.