Back to Life, Back to Reality

Originally published on DC Metro Moms, 2/15/10:

 All over the DC metro region, people have been hesitantly, questioningly, longingly opening their front doors and venturing out again.  Visits to the grocery stores and big box stores more closely resemble regular old shopping than preparing for the End of Days.  Recreation classes and events for area children have begun again, leaving parents to breathe a sigh of relief, one that will grow to a measurable gust when schools reopen this week after approximately 65 snow days.  Yes, we're survivors of every snow-prefixed moniker of disaster that has crossed the lips of the witty among us.  Snowstorm talk is so last week (and the week before... and don't forget last December, too).

It's strange to see topics other than the weather being used as fodder for Facebook statuses and tweets.  I happen to have been one of the annoyingly chipper online folks, who was grateful for her P.G. County city's underground power lines and a hubby who was amazingly timely in all of his preparations of shopping, wood cutting and shoveling so that we never lacked for baking supplies, a fire blazing in the wood stove, or at least a narrow sidewalk path out toward civilization.  It was heavenly.  Yeah, I know.  Those of you who froze your tushes off in darkened homes awaiting the non-answers from Pepco, or rifled through pantries equipped with only canned beets and half-filled bags of crushed Goldfish crackers in an attempt to feed your loved ones, would probably enjoy smacking me around a bit, but the truth of the matter is that for us, this was a wonderful snowcation.

Now that roads are (mostly) cleared, and the shining sun is beginning its herculean task of melting snow piles that resemble the Alps, I'm facing a harsh reality check.  Schools reopen this week, and my nine year old will return to a world of sitting at a desk and filling out MSA prep test packets, while the snow just outside his classroom window will never see the imprint of his snow boots, since indoor recess will most likely be the students' destiny for quite a while.  My husband, the maker of warm fires and cooker of fried egg breakfasts will once again exit the house early each morning, leaving me in the sole company of young children, who while delightful and funny and adorable, simply don't get the humor of a shared FAIL Blog moment or kick the butt of a sink full of dishes.  Real life is back, and I'm feeling more than a little bit spoiled and not quite prepared to return.

Just like the feeling that builds during the third week in August, I'm experiencing the letdown that accompanies the end of a more peaceful, unscheduled, shared family time.  There was a magical tone to the snowstorm days- no alarm clocks blasting us awake, no rush through breakfasts, definite relaxed "screen time" regulations, and an open feeling of possibility.  Maybe we'll go for a walk in the snow later... let's make plans to go sledding when the wind diminishes enough to not blow the toddler away, setting up art projects and baking adventures to fill the time- always a sense that whatever we wanted to do or play, there would be time for it to happen eventually.  Look, the snow seems like it will never stop!!  Snow days forever!!

But, the snow has stopped.  (For now?)  And real life is beckoning.  And trust me, we're no Brady Bunch in these parts.  Don't you worry, the sibling bickering and blaming and pestering all occurred in good measure, and we got a bit cabin feverish after a while.  But, we also felt like we were the recipients of this gift.  The gift of time.  The joy of it could be best expressed on my two year old's face when he was told each morning that his big brother and daddy would be staying home.  Wonder and excitement, that's what Snowpocalypse 2010 gave to us.

This is an original DC Metro Moms post. 

Dawn blogs nonsense about her family at my thoughts exactly, and tries to sound intelligent when she reviews books at 5 Minutes for Books.