Snow Day

Sunday and Monday brought the big Thanksgiving weekend snow storm that blanketed the upper Midwest to New Jersey. The storm dumped 4-5 inches in Mountain Lakes. By Monday at noon our wonderful little town looked like a scene from a Norman Rockwell painting.

It is incredible what a difference a change of perspective and priorities can make. During my last several years of teaching at Temple, snow days were the bane of my existence. They were an unwarranted and aggravating intrusion on the time I had set aside to prep for the week’s classes or work on my research. I was usually irritable and agitated most of the day, angry at the “time that was being stolen from me.” My frustration and unhappiness too often bled into what should have been a day of joy and fun for the kids and me.

If you can’t have fun on a snow day with two awesome little kids, something is seriously wrong. Something was seriously wrong with me then. Thankfully, much less is wrong now. Working on things that I find meaningful (writing a book on parenting, trying to help make the schools in our town better for all students, building an one-of-a-kind obstacle course for the boys) has reestablished a better, happier equilibrium for me and for us.

Yesterday, couldn’t have been better. The boys and I had a great time. They slept in a bit, and then they played together for most of the morning. They built an indoor obstacle course. Will drew. They watched a little bit of TV. We cleaned up the mess left over from Thanksgiving and having friends over on Sunday night.

Before lunch we broke out the skis for a little practice time in the yard in preparation for hitting the bunny hill at Mountain Creek soon. After some experimentation and a little whining, the boys figured out how to put on their own ski boots and skis. In the side yard they got in lots of practice walking in skis, tipping over, and getting back up. Then, they did some practice skiing.

Before wrapping up for the day, we hit the bunny hill of Pollard Road at our friends Ron and Erin’s house across the street for a little downhill skiing. Will had a great first run at Sosa’s Hill. Lucas did too despite Will throwing snowballs at him as he skied.

When we went back in the house, boss baby Lucas proclaimed that he was going to make his own lunch for the first time and that he didn’t want any assistance from me. Thankfully, he permitted me to stay in the kitchen to snap a few pictures. Mission accomplished. Lucas made his first peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Here are a few pics of Lucey making his sandwich and one of his sweet, proud smile.