I tend to find snow days frustrating. The few hours that the kids are in school are often the only weekday hours when I can count on getting something done. But I have found, on these days, that if I can relax and let go, giving in to the day, I am often rewarded by something only slightly short of the miraculous. If I can reframe my thinking early on in the day, and make the conscious decision to neither ask for, nor expect anything in particular, I find that some beautiful surprise is always waiting for me, just around the corner. I've learned this lesson so many times in my life, from getting into a challenging yoga pose, to making it through an awful traffic jam, but I still struggle with getting into this mindset. I still get caught up in my to-do list, or my selfish wish list for the day. Fortunately, I managed to mentally put everything aside today, and just enjoyed the day. Here are some of the beautiful moments I was rewarded with:
We had treats this morning after our adventure getting to music class.
Mattie learned how to play Uno.
And won.
A few quiet moments with Theo, the way only I get to see him.
Some time in the snow.
Jack created an I Spy collection.
Sixteen homemade soft pretzels. (I wasn't fast enough with the camera to capture more than the last three!)
And then, the babysitter came. Happy snow day everyone!
Like so many of you, we had a great big snow storm this weekend. It was Theo's first snow! We went to the park to sled. Theo was out with us for about 45 minutes. He was very content to hang out with us, but his puzzled look led me to believe that he never did figure out what we were doing out there! Mattie, always our hardiest child, was outside from 11am until 4 pm, with only one momentary dash into the basement to pee. Jack and Ted were out with him. Boston Public Schools were closed today (for no reason that I can understand.) So, we had another chance to sled today. I took Jack, Elliot and Mattie back to the park. Armed with their three sleds, they walked over to the park very excitedly, but apparently sledding is one of those things that is better saved as a rare treat. Today, after about 10 minutes of sledding,
they decided it would be much more fun to throw snow in each others' faces. Cold, wet, and crying, they headed home shortly after that for a different snow tradition they were eager to repeat - hot cocoa with marshmallows.
