Two weeks ago the boys came home from school with a note saying they probably wouldn't have school tomorrow because it was supposed to snow. I didn't think much of it since it never snows here and we'd already had snow this school year. But, when I got up the next morning I saw 8 inches of fresh snow. Yep, no school. And the next day? No more snow, but no school. And the same for the next day. We have maybe one or two snow plows in the county and the grit (aka salt) was cut in half this year, so only major roads were getting it, making it impossible to get anywhere. People here freaked out. It's the equivalent to a place like North Carolina getting snow. Here are some of the SNOW highlights. 1. The night before the "storm" a friend went to three food stores to find no bread and no milk.
2. No such things as snow shovels here. I saw someone using a leaf blower to move the snow, a sign, and a lot of cardboard taped to wooden sticks.
3. Biking to the train station is popular here. If you ever want a good laugh, watch someone try to bike in the snow...in a suit. It doesn't work and people get really frustrated and slightly embarrassed.
4. Strollers don't work in snow. We all began walking to town with toddlers in sleds behind. Kind of fun, but you must make sure that the toddler doesn't roll out when you turn a corner. (Like mine did several times - always into the hedge and not the road!)
5. Cars don't work well when roads aren't plowed or gritted. And we live in a hilly area. I came down a hill on a road I shouldn't have been on only to see a car sliding down sideways on the next hill that I was meant to go up. I told the boys to pray and I floored it. The van just made it to the top - barely and I think she was smoking for the next thirty minutes!
What did we do? Here are some of OUR highlights:
1. The first day we were so excited, so we decided to go sledding. We drove halfway and then walked the rest. Which went fairly well. Once at the hill it all went down hill. Jacob didn't want to do it after a few gos and Aiden was sick of walking up the hill. Sorry, this isn't Austria and there is no magic carpet! Jeb was in heaven, so I focused on him. I should have kept focused on all. I looked up to see Aiden take his mitten that was attached to his wrist with elastic and swing it right into Jacob's face. What happened next is priceless. I could see the rage come into Jacob's face and then he body tackled Aiden to the ground like a linebacker. Long story short - Jacob stood at the bottom of the hill and Aiden at the top. I had just witnessed the first of many fights that are sure to happen in our house. And the walk home? I don't even want to discuss it. It wasn't pretty.
2. That same day my friend called to alert me there was homework. What? I remember snowdays being fun. Not so. Thanks to the internet, kids now have to work during snow days. And when I say kids, I really mean moms. I'm not meant to home school my children. Again, it wasn't pretty.
3. Aiden's homework was to build a snowman. So we went out and he refused. I wasn't putting on all the clothes for nothing! So guess who built it? ME. Guess who didn't like it? HIM. We still took a picture for school.
Alas, the rain has come. I usually hate rain in January because it rains every day. I have never been so happy. And within 8 hours, the snow was gone. A distant memory, until tomorrow. Flurries are forecasted. We could get an inch. Sounds crazy, but school could be off. And it won't be pretty.
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