Snow Days

I remember a time when I was a lot younger that seeing snow fall excited me. There was the possibility of snow days. A day off from school and/or work, a day filled with the promise of many adventures to come. Whether it was going from neighbor to neighbor asking them if they'd like their sidewalks shoveled (and earning more money than my brother because I just told them to pay me 'what they felt it was worth') or building a snow fort so the rest of the kids in the neighborhood could have snow wars, snow meant a freedom of sorts. We were all freed from the pressures to do well in school, to earn that almighty dollar, or to just be 'grown-ups'.

I shocked my kids when they were little by getting out in the snow and playing with them. Parents weren't supposed to do that. Parents weren't supposed to act like they loved to play in the snow. That's exactly what I did though and after a few shocked moments, the kids joined in with me and we all had a blast. Snowmen grew out of the yard, snowballs came flying out of nowhere and after, there were steaming mugs of hot chocolate waiting to warm us up with.

So when did all this change? When did I go from the snow loving teenager and young mother to the...sigh I have to say it...Adult....that groans when she sees snow in the weather forecast? It seems that the older I get, the less I like snow. It's still lovely to watch falling, silently covering the world in a white blanket. It just doesn't create the same excitement in me anymore. Snow now means bundling up in layers to keep warm, cleaning off the car, and shoveling the driveway.

I saw a hint of my old self when I introduced the puppy to the snowball. He valiently chased the solid white ball I threw for him and was amazed when he went to pick it up with his mouth, it disintegrated! The expression on his puppy face was hysterical, I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. I continued to make and throw snowballs and he continued to try and catch them. By the time I was tired (well before he was), he was covered in snow and I was ready for the mug of hot chocolate I had waiting in the microwave for me.

So the youngster that loved snow is still in me, it just takes a bit more to get her to come out and play because the adult me knows of the responsibilities I have now. The kids are grown, the grandkids are too far away to play with on a regular basis, so I have my puppy to play with my inner six year old. He should keep her going for quite some time to come. :-)