Shaking fists at the snow

They forecasted a big snow storm this week. Winter going out with a bang. The government closed. Schools closed. Everyone hunkered down and prepared to watch nearly a foot of snow fall from the skies.

In the end, barely an inch accumulated on the ground. We could still see blades of grass peeking up. Signs of spring refusing to be blanketed.

Today, the snow is mostly gone. A few lonely snowmen still sit on yards of green grass, but they are shrinking day-by-day.Winter’s last bang turned out to be little more than a beep.

Of course, the critics are loud. Faulting meteorologists for creating such hype and getting it so ridiculously wrong.

Maybe I’m desensitized. Maybe my 3+ years of parenting have numbed me to the upset of schedules shifting, days upturned, thinking one thing would happen but then experiencing another. But I didn’t mind. I don’t like snow, I have never really loved snow days, and I had plans for my Wednesday that never came to fruition, but I wasn’t bothered.

People make mistakes. Ideas are easily exaggerated. These things happen.

In our house, we allow our girl to have dessert on weekends. It’s a special treat, 3 nights each week, and it prevents us from falling into the trap of bribing her to eat each night’s dinner with the promise of dessert. In her 3-year-old mind, Wednesday was a weekend. She did not leave the house to go to school, she spent the morning hours in her pajamas, she had a friend over to play, and she enjoyed a late afternoon trip to the grocery store. Check, check, check, check – must be a weekend, she must get dessert.

As humans, we tend to want to organize everything into nice, neat categories. Black or white. Snow or not. Sun or rain. In or out. Weekend or weekday. Dessert or no dessert.

But life doesn’t work that way. Life is messy and chaotic and complicated. You can complete all of the checks and still not be where you thought you’d be. If it looks like a weekend and sounds like a weekend and feels like a weekend, well it still might not be the weekend. And if it looks like a big storm, and sounds like a big storm, and feels like a big storm, well… right.

Go ahead and shake your fists at the weatherman all you want. It will do little more for you than shaking your fists at the rain. In the meantime, I’ll be over here enjoying the last, whispy breaths of winter and watching the world thaw into spring.

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This week, I’m thankful for…

… snow days, even if they come without snow.

… extra time and cuddles with my littles.

… an impromptu, mid-week playdate with a friend.

… lunch with a friend.

… new opportunities.

… 4 consecutive hours of sleep.

… chai.

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This week’s photo 365.

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Have a lovely weekend. They’re predicting 60-degree days here this weekend and I’m so looking forward to that! But, if they’re wrong, we’ll roll with it.