Dear Addie,
It snowed. Well technically, first it dumped buckets of rain. Then it froze. And THEN it snowed (only two inches by us), but it snowed. I know what you’re thinking - big deal, it’s January otherwise known as winter, snow is part of winter mom. Yes, I know that love, and while that might be true, an average winter here is mild temperatures and a dusting of snow maybe, if anything really. We haven’t seen anything of measure in almost 3 years around here. These two inches - merely a laughable weather event for the north, warranted two “snow days” from school here in the south. Having said that and having lived in multiple places with similar and/or worse weather experiences, I can honestly say some states are just not equipped to handle such a mess and ours might be one of them.
I grew up in Michigan - plenty of snow there and sure the “occasional” snow day happened, but not too often. In fact, the street I grew up on rarely got plowed all the way down by our house and everyone down there just accepted that if they needed to leave after a good snowfall, they had to part take in what felt like some sort of X Games-style off-roading with sedans. If you got stuck, neighbors came out to help push, until you could reach the plowed part of the street. It was the norm. When we lived in Indiana (where sister Clara was born) – I had to be to work at 5am and I don’t recall ever having an issue except for one major snowstorm that dropped a couple of feet of snow like super-fast, but even with that, I don’t recall anything being closed?!
When we moved to New York - more snow than I had ever seen in my life, and streets were always cleared and drivable with not a single snow day awarded in the two years we lived there. They even line the residential streets with 8-foot poles (or maybe they were 6ft, not sure, either way still not a measurement for snow I’d like to see) so the snowplows knew where the road was for plowing.
Seriously!
Then there was Texas where we got ice, and if you tried to leave our house, you best believe you weren’t finding any traction to make it back up the hill of our street to get home, I distinctly remember multiple “ice-days” for such a thing and the city basically shut down.
Having lived in all these places, here’s what I’ve learned baby girl, no one can drive on ice and for the record, I am pretty confident we didn’t see any when we lived in NY because they had an arsenal of snowplows and salt trucks going multiple times a day on most streets. New York has like the gold standard for snow removal in my book. The south is just not equipped the same way, so side streets don’t get the same priority as the main streets, and our county is mammoth in size, so even if it looks clear by us, a few miles away could be a disaster for any safe way to get to school or work, so we do what we have somehow all been trained to do, and sell out of French toast ingredients (milk, bread & eggs) at every store and settle in to stay put.
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With the snow mostly falling overnight we woke up to a winter wonderland or as you would describe when I asked what the weather was outside “It’s-a-snowy!” Our resident teenagers wasted no time getting out there with anticipation of an epic snowball fight only to quickly realize this was all powder so it was more of a snowball sprinkle when they threw it. You on the other hand took to this a little slower residing to the craft room to ease into your morning finishing up your cereal and watching a little Princess Tiana. While daddy and I were out snapping a few pics to document this snowy scene and your brother and sister messing around, unbeknownst to us you had finished your cereal and were now in the coat closet trying to cram a pair of too-small boots on your feet. Clearly, a peace offering to get outside, because anyone who knows you, knows bare feet and snow is your jam! Ah yes, the joys of a hyposensitive sensory system and lack of temperature & pain regulation. Always super fun in the winter said no special needs parent EVER! While you had all intentions of ditching those boots once you got outside, you knew to get out they had to be on…well-played Ad.
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With an “A” for effort I helped you get properly dressed off you went to explore winter and when I say “explore” I mean to swing in the snow.
You spent the rest of the day going in and out, often escaping shoeless, gloveless, and without a jacket leaving me to summons you back inside to dress appropriately only to have you kick it all off in the first few minutes you went back outside. It’s a vicious cycle Ad, a vicious cycle.
There were a lot of towels, soggy clothes, wet socks, hot chocolate (just the whipped cream for you) blanket snuggles, lots of books, and with all the fixins for French toast – we ended up making pancakes…funny how that worked out right?! See Ad even mommy can be predictably unpredictable 😊
This week it snowed Ad, and because of where we live it was kind of a big deal.
Glad you enjoyed it.
Love,
Mom
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