Well in case you didn’t hear, it has been snowing. Altogether we received about 40” of snow over the course of a week and what fun it was. Schools closed down (not us of course, much to the kids chagrin) and it was amazing and fun to be a part of history as chances are good we will not experience that again in a while (at least around here). So, because the snow was so high and conditions so treacherous I was simply unable to post blog entries ( did you buy that? no? OK all I can do is apologize and continue trying my best to post as often as I can). In the meantime, I have a few observations about the recent snowstorm.
I really noticed this time, that after a day or two (or three), that people began to complain about having their kids out of school. Most kids were home for almost 2 weeks due to weather conditions and the howling and outrage from parents was pretty loud. The novelty wore off pretty quickly. Don’t get me wrong, I have long said, that I do not know how parents who work outside of the home are able to manage childcare contingencies, and this snowstorm really must have been tough. I am not really talking about the distress over missed work and missed paychecks, that is a difficult situation. But rather, I am talking about the actual fact of simply having the kids home during the day. I was amazed at the number of people who complain about having their kids home for a few days on end (OK a week or two). I know that many are just blowing smoke but I really thought a lot about this fact as I flittered around Facebook, mingled at the gym, and heard the people at the stores. I listened to all the complaints with a bemused little smile on my face, cause believe me, I KNOW. I understand the frustrations of having your kids around you 24/7. I get it it, is not easy, and you get tired of them, and there are times that you just want to sit down on the toilet and not hear, “MOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMM?”.
But seriously, what is the big deal? They are YOUR kids, you gave birth to them, you had them with you for a few years before you sent them to school. I mean, what happens in the summer? Don’t the kids have to be planned for and occupied for a few months without the public (or private) school system? Are your kids really so terrible that the answer to managing them is to have them gone for 6 hours a day?
Y’know, I looked at my last post and I guess lately that it sounds like I am cutting on other parents. Let me be clear, I do not mean to rag on parents, nor do I mean to judge others too harshly. I have been given the blessing of being able to look at all this parenting thing a little differently as I do not have the option of sending them away anymore (and TRUST ME, there are days I look at that bus and think, “What was I thinking?") I get it, being a parent is hard, but the more I am with them, the more I realize that they are growing (and so very very fast). This period of time, in my life and theirs, will be gone in an instant. And while I get mad at them, frustrated with them, angry at them, tired of them, I find I am so very very blessed and grateful that I have this TIME with them. It will be gone all too soon and I will look back and truly believe that I will never think to myself that I had too much time with them, but not nearly enough.
