Snow Day

Snow day...again. The kids have only gone to school for 3 full days in the past 2 weeks. They haven't had a solid full week of school in 5 weeks. It's been a long month of no schedules and loose routines, which means kids everywhere are running on overdrive while parents are running on fumes. Parents everywhere are waking up today and digging deep to find the courage and patience to survive another day while keeping kids entertained and maintain sanity. 

I am one of those parents. Working to find the balance between creative fun and screen time, bouncing between refereeing bickering kids and snapping photos of their sweet moments. The feelings of gratitude over having extra leisure time will be overshadowed by the feelings of guilt for wanting them back in a routine. We'll torment ourselves with all the "should, could, and would" as we scroll through everyone else's posts of what appears like them making the most of everyday. We'll battle feelings of insecurity and inferiority while playing the comparison game. I know I'm not alone. You've already admitted it. 

As a friend reminded me, I'm the one who prays for snow. I get SO excited about the falling flakes. I'm not complaining about the snow days that inevitably come with the blanket of white I love. I'm just learning to embrace a long season of anything but normal. 

The reality is the days are long but the years are short, at least that's what those who've gone before tell us. The time goes by quickly, indeed, some days it feels like not quick enough. We know to cherish it - the all-too-fleeting moments that will flash before our eyes. If we're lucky (blessed), they'll become memories etched into our minds. We'll hopefully forget the times we lost our minds and our cool. We'll ask forgiveness for the overreactions and we'll teach lessons of humility. We'll search Pinterest and look for at-home activities and snow-day recipes, then we'll settle on a movie and iPads because - let's be honest - we're on day 3 here. We'll pray harder for our kids' teachers and send an extra thank-you gift when they finally return to school. We'll look around at the messes - the piles of laundry and dishes, the toys in disarray, the puddles of melted snow, and we'll let ourselves off the hook because everyone is clothed, fed, warm, and loved. 

We've got this. Snow day number 3. We're doing the hard work together. As another friend reminded me, it does in fact take a village - the village of parents, grandparents, friends, teachers, iPads, Netflix, games, books, and timeouts - all to make it through. So here's to another snow day. Here's to the weekend. Here's to Monday and the forecast of 55 degrees and above freezing all next week! Happy Snow Day!