A Snow Day

This week I am still recovering from The Blizzard of 2011. Davenport got 16.5 inches of snow which meant not only was it the second largest snow storm in the Quad Cities but it marked the 2nd snow day I've ever gotten at my firm. The snow closed down basically the entire city.

As luck would have it my husband was off work so I couldn’t wait to be snowed in with my family. My firm closed early the day before the snow hit and I headed home to make preparations. I made a big batch of my Cheeseburger Chowder, sent my husband to the store for some treats for the kids and sat back and waited for the storm to hit.

And boy did it hit. That morning we woke up to snow so high, we couldn’t even open our doors.  Our yellow lab Zoey even got stuck in our backyard!

I decided since it was a snow day I would truly enjoy it with my family…no work, just fun. That morning the kids woke up and peered out the window…they were in awe of the all the snow. I went out and helped my husband shovel the snow in our driveway. Even though we were shoveling heavy snow caked at the edge of our driveway we found the fun in the chore. We laughed as we tried to shovel everything into a huge snowpile for the kids. Sometimes 30 minutes with your husband laughing on your driveway can take the place of 1000 date nights you have missed because of the kids!

The day was amazing. We had grilled cheese and warm soup for lunch, snuggled up on the couch and watched a movie together, and of course bundled up and headed outside to explore the winter wonderland. Being snowed in was an amazing feeling, outside the world around us was dead…no one could get out and so it was like time stood still for awhile. No phone calls, my Blackberry was silent, no emails clogged my computer, no bills in the mailbox, no responsibilities.

I experienced the day through my kids’ eyes. The snow mounds on the side of our driveway were taller then they were and became mountains for them to climb. It was too cold for little L to go out and explore but I put him in our bay window and watched him eye the snow with such curiosity.

Unfortunately, the experience couldn’t last forever. That evening after I put the kids to bed I had to go back to reality. A day off is amazing, but it also means getting behind on work and billable time. So while my kids were tucked in dreaming of sliding down the snow mountains, I sat down, re-entered the adult world and worked.

I sometimes forget how truly peaceful the life of a child is, and what true happiness they feel. Everything around them is new. They aren’t jaded, they see the good in everything. They have no responsibilities, so they can truly just play, without a care in the world. Thanks to a snow day I got to experience that again.

Mandi