Mommy Monday—the snow edition

I grew up in Ontario, Canada and I know snow.  If we looked out the window and saw only a foot of it, we knew we would be going to school. Two to three feet—check the news to see if schools were closed (they usually weren’t).  Four feet—woohoo!  Snow day!

I now live in the Pacific Northwest, the Seattle area.  We don’t get snow and what we get is barely enough to make one small (tiny!) snowman.

my backyard this morning

 

This is the kind of snow my kids have known all their lives, and this morning I really had to keep reminding myself of that little fact.

“It’s snowing!!!”

“MOM!  Do we have a snow day today?”

“Can we go out and play??!!”

“Is school closed?”

These types of questions hit me before I even opened my eyes this morning.  I look outside—we’re talking less than an inch of snow!  Granted schools here have been closed for less, but come on!  Can I at least get out of bed before you bombard me with Christmas carols and singing “it’s snowwwwwwiiiiiinnnnnggg….”?

Nope. Four voices have merged into one and I can’t tell anymore who is asking what this morning.

Snow is the PNW—not what I grew up with, but I get the excitement my kids have when they see it.

So we checked the news, school web sites—all clear! Kids are going to school (woohoo!)

Bring out the winter jackets.  Find gloves.  Repeat “don’t lose your gloves/hats” ten times to each child.

Find boots.  Have discussion about wearing boots. Have kids convince us they can still wear their runners (I had friends who wore their runners in four feet of snow, less than an inch—the kids can win this battle).

My husband decides he’ll drive all 3 school going children to school since I don’t have to leave for class with the youngest for another hour.

Thank you darlin’!

Ten minutes after they leave—phone rings:

“uh, you may not want to go anywhere it’s really slippery out here”

Thank you darlin’!  I just needed an excuse not to warm up my car.

Minutes pass, phone rings again:

“I’m headed home, the hill to MissyD’s preschool is backed up with people sliding down the hill…”

OK, see you soon.

Minutes pass, phone rings again:

“Can you see the entrance to our subdivision?  Apparently there’s a huge pile up down there”

Nope, see cars going up, no cars coming down...drive slow.

Thirty minutes later (of what should be a ten minute commute), door opens and in they come.  Older kids are at school, younger kids at home. I'm informed that the ditches are full of cars on the hill right before our subdivision entrance.

And there is now a whole inch of snow on the ground.



The deck...just over an inch of snow

Gotta love winter in the PNW.