Snow Days

Ahh, winter.

Every year, the kids pray for snow, and most often, are disappointed. So it was with a joyful heart that I woke the kids on Monday morning (and by "joyful heart", I mean I turned their lights on and unceremoniously roused them at 8 AM, saying, "You forgot to set your alarm again; get up!") to snow.

The look on Secunda's face was priceless; at my insistence, she opened the door to look outside, then stood there gawping at me with this big dumb grin on her face :) It's the simple pleasures, really... Primus was less enthused about it, or at least he showed it less. I think that had more to do with him being unmedicated than anything, though. Tertius and Quarta were predictably "primate poop crazy" about it and wanted to put their snow gear on RIGHT NOW, PLEASE. I assured them that there would be time to play in the snow after the big kids got home from school.

I have found that the older I get, the less I am a fan of going outside in the snow. Perhaps it's the burgeoning arthritic pain in my hands, or the achy hips and knees from years of playing soccer and growing too fast; maybe I'm just becoming a grumpy old sod. I am more than content to sit curled in a chair by the window, hot chocolate in hand, watching the wee hobbitses frolic in the white stuff, but the thought of bundling myself up to go out there strikes dread in my heart. As an adult, snow means work to me. Every winter school day, I go outside, start both vehicles and scrape or wipe whatever cold weather impediment off the windows so that Hubby can leave for work on time (he never works extra time into his prep for things like, you know, weather) and so can we.

So, now that I am in my 4th decade on this Earth, I have come to realize that while I love how snow looks, love watching it drift aimlessly down from the heavens, and don't mind driving in it (as long as the roads are sufficiently plowed), I really don't enjoy being out in it, being chilled by it, having it get inside my coat or pants or socks; that the cold that penetrates my bones takes more than a day to disperse again really cements for me that I'm just not an outdoors person in the snow.

But in spite of that, let it snow!