Bring on the cuddles, the excitement of watching it snow and the hot chocolate by the fire. Give me endless days in pajamas and pancake breakfasts and the chance to play all the games we got for Christmas.
Just not today. Today I have so much to get done. My kids have already been home this week from being sick so I’ve lost a few work days already. And the laundry has piled up and I won’t get to work out today, so there goes my New Year’s Resolution. And the dog slept on top of me last night so I have major back pains today. Please don’t let it be today.
But yes, I want a big snow – one that lets us sled down a big hill and make a large snowman. Let us have a big snowball fight and lay down and make snow angels. Let’s catch snowflakes on our tongues and dance around while the silence of the falling snow settles to the ground. I want it all!
Just not today. Today I have to get ready for the bridal show, which means painting doors and crafting my display. And it’s this weekend so I have to be ready. And I have meetings that I just cannot miss and my clients have been waiting patiently for photos. I absolutely cannot make this work today. My kids have been fighting non stop this week and if we’re all cooped up together for a long time someone will make me loose my mind. Please don’t let it be today.
Yes, I know these days are something I dream about all year long. When it’s 500 degrees in the summer I find my happy place in the thoughts of a cuddly wintry day. And yes, I know that I’ll only get one or maybe two chances to have these days with my kids at the age they are now. When they’re older these days might be so very different. They won’t jump up and down at the sign of the first snowflake and they won’t beg me to take a nap with them. One day they’ll be too big to slide down the hill with me.
So, maybe today wouldn’t be so bad. I can break out the Pinterest board I created for snow days and we can attempt and utterly fail at the activities they suggest but we’ll all laugh doing it anyway. And they’ll at least get to wear the snow gear that we bought them that they will inevitably grow out of next year. And I’ll take lots of pictures – because snow photos are the best! And I’ll look at my four-year-olds like I did the first time it snowed after they were born. When they were only three months old and I thought snow days with them would last forever. I can still picture my son’s bald little head looking out the window with me as I told them all about the fun we would have one day out there in the white stuff that fell and collected together to make a winter wonderland. And I’ll picture the first time my daughter walked on snow, fell down and immediately started giggling.
We can watch movies and bake cookies and just let the world stop for a minute or two. Because even though these are things we can do on any given day if we really want to, somehow we won’t until we are forced to. Or until the magic of the snow makes us want to.
Last year, the only snow we got was on the day my daughter was diagnosed with pink eye. She insisted on going out in the snow anyway and after lots of begging I reluctantly let her. And then it was the only snow we got at all for the whole year. But I was so thankful for the memories we decided to make anyway.
Some people complain about the way our town completely shuts down a few times a year with just the thought of a little dusting of snow, but I love it. And sometimes I really, really need it.
Yes, today is the perfect day for snow.
Because year after year after year I’ll think it’s the wrong time for us to get snow. But it will turn out to be the exact right time we needed it.
