Survival of the snowbound

photo-291Here’s a fun dinner party question: which days of your life would you like to live through again? This is a different question from identifying your happiest days. I’m thrilled for the births of my children, but I would prefer not to repeat those experiences.

In any case, Thursday, March 5th, is not a day I’d like to repeat either. Due to an unfortunate home alarm experience, I woke up at 2:30 a.m. and had trouble going back to sleep before the baby woke up for his next feeding. While nursing, I checked my phone and found out that school was canceled for everyone. Also, our various childcare options weren’t going to be coming either. My husband was in Europe, so I was going to have a long, sleep-deprived snow-bound day with the kiddos.

I guess on some level it was a chance for discovery about what I could still get done. I shoveled the driveway three times, thus getting some upper-body cross-training in. I sent a handful of emails, including one I really needed to think through. I was reasonably healthy in my eating, considering the circumstances, and I had a few fun playing-in-the-snow sessions with the kids.

On the other hand, I was quite aware of the slow pace of the passing minutes as I dealt with a fussy baby and big kids who wouldn’t be quiet enough to let him sleep. I think a low moment was when I’d finally gotten him down in my office and, apropos of nothing, my two older boys decided to start jumping on the floor of my bedroom right above the office. I have no idea why they were even in there. I went up and told them they needed to go outside and play in the snow, at which point the 7-year-old yelled that the 5-year-old had started it, and he started hitting him, at which point I yanked him off and sent them both packing to their rooms. Good times. At least the baby went down reasonably well at 9 and slept until 3, and then until 6. I needed that (almost) full night of sleep.

Hope everyone else is surviving the last throes of winter. The temperature is supposed to hit 59 on Wednesday!

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