A Forced Slow-Down

The first snowfall

 Just a few minutes ago I received the notification on my phone that our schools are cancelled tomorrow.  It has now been two weeks since our five children have attended school!  I don't remember ever being out this long, even when growing up in the much-more-wintry upper Midwest.

At first it is fun and novel.  However, our particular storms brought sheets of ice which limited our level of outdoor fun.  So we stayed active indoors where we were grateful to maintain our power and internet service.  When at last we attempted to head out on Sunday, our car wound up in our woods.  The sight of us climbing, slipping, sliding and grasping back up the hill in our Sunday finest could have made us a finalist in America's Funniest Home Videos.

Things started to thaw a bit at the beginning of the week, and then we received several inches of

I don't even want to talk about it.

snow. My youngest child had a birthday on Wednesday and I hadn't been able to get out for gifts, so I thought I would sneak out late Tuesday afternoon before the sun went down to grab a new movie and game at Walmart.   I didn't make it a mile up our road before I lost control on the ice and ended up in the ditch, too!  I was just sick to my stomach to call Mr. Wonderful and tell him what happened.  Two cars in two ditches within three days.

On Wednesday, we received five more inches of snow.

The mail has been delayed.

Our garbage hasn't been picked up in two weeks.

We missed the last high school musical of our daughter's senior year.

A birthday party, basketball awards and a daddy-daughter event have been delayed.

We haven't been able to go to church, boy scouts or gymnastics.

Obviously, things haven't been normal around our place for a while.

I keep telling my husband that "We're never having a normal day again!"  It feels like the "Groundhog Day" movie and by the middle of this week, I was struggling to maintain my normally optimistic attitude.

Extra care on the waffles because we have extra time on our hands.

The thing I love about a typical snow day is that it creates mandatory togetherness and abandoning our standard busy schedule.  We have open hours to bake, create, play, read and explore outdoors.  We did all these things and enjoyed it fully.  The children have genuinely behaved so well and gotten along for the most part.  They joined forces to create townships made of Lincoln Logs and other sculptures of Legos.  Even the youngest eagerly anticipated our readings from the "Little House" series which was my go-to method of distraction when we just needed some calm.

 

Each of these moments I have loved and I believe the winter snows of 2015 will be folklore in our family's history.  But I am very much craving normal.  I am desperate for sunshine.  I miss the freedom of coming and going and the predictability of routine.  I'm taking a deep breath, I'm looking ahead to a forecast of a warmer, albeit damp, week.

Spring is a crazy-making busy time of year for us all.  I know I will long for a day of no schedule and I will crave a moment to slow down.  Our vehicles will be repaired and the pantry will be restocked.  I would never choose to be this unproductive for two weeks, but I will treasure the memories (and madness) and trust that the sun will blaze once more.  Instead of being all together with cozy covers and carefree days, we will rush individually from one demand to the next.

The ice and snow will thaw and this moment that seems frozen will melt into reality that is speeding by too quickly.

Has your life been altered by things you can't control?  Is anyone else enjoying/enduring and endless snow day?