Here in fabulous Indianapolis, we’ve received 50+” of snow
in less than two months. “Suck it up,”
our friends from Michigan say. “It is winter after all,” the native
Minnesotans laugh. “What’s the big
deal?” Plain and simple—we’re
spoiled. We’ve gotten used to mild
winters. While they say it takes twenty
one days to start a good habit, trust me when I say it only takes one mild
winter to set new expectations. And
that’s exactly the problem, we had two mild winters in a row before
Snowmaggedon hit. I’m talking don’t stock up on ice melt and replace the
broken snow shovel mild. You get the
point. And while I’m guilty of
complaining, driving through yet another drift this morning, it dawned on me I
might be looking at this all wrong. That
being said, here are several reasons why all this snow isn’t really all that
bad:
1. Never again will I
have to endure my child praying for a snow day.
Yep—we’ve shoveled that prayer right out of him. Now the words snow day equal hard work so miracle of miracle, he’s cured!
2. Snow forces me to
slow down. Although I spend part of my
day at a desk, as a stay-at-home mom, I also spend hours each day on the go. As a result, I often find myself
participating in many of those not so healthy habits like driving through for
fast food and eating in my car or driving a bit too fast in an effort not to be
late to my next stop. There have been
several days this winter we’ve been stuck at home and I’ve actually cooked a
full meal! And when we have gotten out,
caution has prevailed over swiftness as it pertains to getting where I’m going
safely.
3. Packed snow lessens
the harshness of the speed bumps in the school parking lot. I drive through that lot numerous times a
day. While it might sound petty, to my
way of thinking this is a real perk.
4. Snow lets me embrace
my OCD in a new way. 50” of snow has
proven my need to have the perfect driveway.
Or what my husband laughing calls a work of art. At our house, we each take the side our car
is on. We each have a shovel we prefer
over the others. Mine’s blue with a
metal edge. At the end of the task, it
never fails. My side looks like ice
sculptors came through and carved out the driveway while my husband’s side
looks like a guy in a hurry came through and hit the high spots. Then there’s the matter of the end of drive,
that pesky section where the city has plowed leaving double the depth and mini
glaciers. I dig that out and use a floor
scraper to clear away the hard pack while hubby’s side looks like a skating
rink. It’s true--I’m on my fifth bag of environmentally
friendly ice melt this season.
5. Snow gave us a
reason to find new nicknames for each of our dogs. Instead of Beamer, Bentley, Blazer and
Bristol (I’ll let that soak in a second.
Yeah, they all start with B and they’re all named for cars) we now have
Wuss Boy, Scaredy Cat, Ms. Over It and Snow Plow.
6. It allows me the
awesome opportunity to be in the trenches with my son. Yes, we own a snow blower. A nice one in fact. One that shows little wear given those mild
winters of the past we were so used to. But
snow blowers come with pros and cons of their own and I know in the early
years, my son will be more invested in buying big screen televisions and projection
systems than he will a snow blower so I decided to go old school this winter as
a means of teaching him the value of knowing how to do a job correctly with just
the basic tools. And it’s this that has
truly made all the difference in the world for our family this winter. There’s my son, as tall as me and far
stronger, taking on his dad’s side, trying to push a whole row of 6+ inches a
full shovel width, going nowhere fast in the middle of the drive while I’m
working my plan on my side, cutting a quarter shovel full row by row without
issue. I’m almost done (even with the
mini glaciers) and if I do say so myself, my side looks terrific, and while he’s
huffed and puffed quite a bit, the kiddo hasn’t even hit the quarter mark yet.
But it’s then I hear the question I’ve been secretly praying to hear. “I don’t know how you did that so fast but
since you’re done already, will you help me?”
“No,” I respond, to which he scowls.
“But I will teach you my secret.” He smiles at me and it was at that exact moment the Heaven’s opened and all this stupid
snow truly became a blessing.
