We woke this morning to a fluffy inch or two of snow covering the ground. A bit of a surprise. I hadn’t watched the news last night, so I don’t know if anything was forecasted, but I’m imagining, from the reactions of the other parents I ran into today, that there was not so much as a flake in the forecast.
Shortly after I got the kids out of bed, I got the reverse-411 call from the school district that there would be a two-hour delay. I was excited! That meant that there would be plenty of time for shoveling and warming up the truck before buckling the kids.
We watched the lovely white flakes fall silently as we ate breakfast. A little snow creates a little magic. The girls were entranced and for once getting breakfast into them wasn’t a struggle. We finished quickly and got into our snow gear. Eyes were sparkling with anticipation. All they could talk about was making a snow fort. I didn’t have the heart to tell them that an inch or two was barely enough for a snowball fight.
Fluffy snow made for quick shoveling, as they played in our tiny front yard. Before long, there actually was a small pile of snow to make into a fort….for fairies, of course! Silly me.
I’d planned to head back in after shoveling, but it was barely 8:30am and we didn’t need to get anyone to school until 11:00am. So we took a walk through the woods. (If there’s one thing I can say about our neighborhood, it’s that we have an abundant open space with lovely woods to walk through. So we make up for our small yard with lots of room for exploring and playing in the open space.)
I love the quiet when it snows. Everything is muted and peaceful. The smallest sounds can be heard through this peacefulness. And the girls were very quiet as we walked, carefully searching for animal tracks in the freshly fallen snow. On the other side of the woods is “their” tree. They have claimed it as their own and have created a “home” out of it. There are bedrooms and a kitchen. And a fireplace. No walk through the woods is complete without time spent at their tree.
Before I knew it, nearly an hour had passed. It was time to get back inside to get ready for school. Believe it or not (I didn’t!), there was no struggle to get them to go back inside. I guess they realized what a treat it was to spend time like that outside before school. So we headed in and warmed up over hot chocolate with marshmallows. And I couldn’t help myself but to smooch those chilly red faces….so happy and glowing.
And I was the happiest mom. As we returned home from school a little later in the day, I was thrilled that they’d gotten to play in the snow before school, because it was completely gone by the time we got home. The joy of a two-hour delay. I only wish I’d thought to bring my camera.
