Snow

Today is another Snow Day.

You would think this might give me some extra time to write a few insightful and interesting blog posts.

But you you be thinking incorrectly.

See, snow days mean vacation only for the children. And the teachers. It means a day of no school, a day of TV and play and maybe of tromping through the snow.

If you are a working parent, it means trying to work from home, yelling into the phone and covering your other ear in an attempt to block out the sounds of your children throwing legos at each other and making loud, shooting-exploding noises at each other. Or, if you can't work from home and don't wish to call in sick, it means scrambling to try and find childcare at the very last minute, knowing that all over every other parent is also trying to find last minute childcare, and that it isn't safe to go anywhere anyway.

If you are not a working parent, a snow day means extra work. It means having to change kids in and out snowgear, finding a place to store the soggy snow gear, making lunch, doling out an endless supply of snacks, moderating arguments, monitoring the time each child spends with the coolest toys, enforcing forgotten rules, all while trying to do the housework you usually cram into a two-hour window of freedom, but instead it takes you all day because everything seems to undo itself each time you turn your head. It's not a day off. It's overtime. Unpaid overtime.

I am writing this during nap time, which means I am in my bed with Andy's head under my armpit. Nate and Nick are having "quiet time" downstairs, which means they play kind of quietly, gradually getting louder until I break down and shout "QUIET TIME!" from up here on the bed. The shouting causes Andy to wake up a little more. The older boys are silent for a minute, then begin playing softly again, starting the slow crescendo over.

given all that's going on, I just can't think of anything proper to write.