A massive ❄️winter storm closed schools and limited travel last week. I didn’t mind being stuck inside because I was recovering from the 🤧flu. Having bonus days off due to snow were gifts. I wasn’t ready to tackle the classroom quite yet. As the 💨wind howled outside, I happily curled up inside.
Even if I wasn’t feeling bad, I wouldn’t want to be out in the ❄️snow. I’m not a cold-weather fan. That’s why I don’t think I was a very good ❄️Snow Day parent when my kids were young. I wasn’t the mom who spent hours building the perfect ⛄️snowman. I didn’t want to get on my knees in the snow to make a fort. Sledding was okay ONCE. But- trudging back up that hill with the 🛷sled and snow in my shoes, nope. Time to go back inside. Don’t worry for my kids, though. Ken loves winter activities. He took them 🛷sledding and enjoyed every moment. He threw snowballs and built snowmen. I remember his brilliant idea to make an upside-down ⛄️snowman once. The kids also had each other for playtime in the ❄️snow. Just not me. I tried. Honest- I did. I didn’t like spending time in the cold and snow- never have, never will.
My ideas of good times on ❄️Snow Days involved inside activities. I was the mom who spread the 🎨crafts all over the kitchen table. Played 🎲board games. Made hot chocolate with too many marshmallows. Sang along to 🎭musicals. You know- inside stuff where it was warm. 🔥
I’m not worried that I screwed up my kids in some way because I didn’t like playing in the ❄️snow. Surely, they forgave me for that a long time ago.😊 I had just as much fun watching them from the window as they had pelting each other with snowballs. I didn’t even mind doing all of the laundry after a day in the snow- as long as I didn’t have to be out there in it.👍🏻
I hope I was a good ❄️wintertime mom when my kids were little, though. You know what I mean, right? The ❄️wintertimes of life when things feel dark and cold. When snow is deep and has to be shoveled. Or there’s only ice and no traction. I let them experience the ❄️wintertimes of life with me. I also had to let them maneuver through ❄️wintertimes by themselves.
Parenting life is like that, you know. We show them how to pack snowballs, but the ❄️snow won’t always be wet enough to pack. They have to figure it out on their own. We’ll fumble. They’ll fumble. It’s okay. They will also build big, beautiful ❄️snow castles.
What if…we’re ready for ❄️wintertime? The truth is that they’re going to have to go in the snow alone someday. As a parent, I can only hope that I gave them enough experience and knowledge to handle the ❄️wintertimes on their own. Sometimes, the gloomiest seasons offer the best life lessons. The ☀️sun does shine in the ❄️wintertime, after all.💖
sharing the stairs 