Sledding

I'm exhausting myself trying to keep my head above water.  I knew it was going to be busy with the holidays coinciding with the end of the semester for Chris and a major project at work finishing the week before Christmas.  I like when life is busy, but it's a shame I can't fit everything I want to do into the time I have.  Heck, I've barely had time in the past few weeks to do the things I have to do, like grocery shop, cook and laundry. 

Life is good, but I needed a day, particularly a weekend day, like yesterday, when we were forced to stay home.  It snowed and snowed and snowed.  I assumed we'd get the lower end of the projected 3-6 inches, because we're never that lucky, but beautiful flakes fell all day and by bedtime, we'd received nearly a foot of snow.  With little wind and heavy snow followed by bitter temperatures, globs of snow stuck to every branch, snow stacked up on railings and roof lines and the side streets stayed covered in snow for one of the prettiest city snow scenes I can remember. 

Over the past few weeks I've felt like I didn't have a minute to waste, so to throw all tightly orchestrated plans out the window never seemed like an option.  Weekends end up being especially difficult because I feel like if I have a whole 48 hours off, I have to accomplish everything I don't have time for during the week.  By the time I made the decision that I shouldn't drive anywhere in the snow unless I absolutely needed to, I was disappointed I had to call off a long-planned afternoon with friends, but I also couldn't be distracted with grocery shopping or other errands. 

Oliver was so excited to go outside and the two of us walked over to the park in the morning when the amount of snow on the ground was still manageable.  The park takes up two city blocks and half of it consists of ball fields.  Oliver doesn't appreciate it yet, but that's a heck of a lot of open space full of snow he and his friends will eventually have free range of.  Even as an adult, one of my favorite parts of a fresh snowfall is to be the first one to make tracks in the snow.  So without any destination or agenda, Oliver and I tromped around the park and got to make those first tracks.

After naptime, Chris and I spent at least a half an hour getting ourselves and the kids ready to go outside again.  I had predicted that after all the effort to be snow-ready - the long underwear, the snowpants, the boots, the hats, the gloves, the winter coat - Soren was going to last five minutes outside.  To my surprise, wearing snowpants, boats and a thick coat didn't phase him.  The only time he fussed was when I tried to put gloves on him. 

Outside, I plunked Soren down on the sidewalk Chris had just reshoveled and he just stood there, presumably taking in how different our yard and street looked.  Eventually he gave it a try walking in all his gear and made it over to a snowpile, where he learned the same harsh lesson Oliver did two years earlier - if you lean on a snowpile, you will fall in.  He shrieked until we pulled him out of the snow, dusted him off and right him again. 

Wanting to take advantage of the remaining daylight, we eventually trekked to the park.  At this point in the day, the snow accumulation had made walking cumbersome.  We tried pulling the kids in their sleds, but the lightweight plastic sleds we have tipped too easily, so we ended up carrying them and our sleds.  But the trek was worth it.  The kids loved their first time sledding!   

Ever since I had kids, snow wasn't something I looked forward to because it makes getting out of the house with kids that much more challenging.  But yesterday's snowfall ended up being a blessing because it gave me more time with my kids and husband.