Snow

This past weekend during the snow blizzard in the Mid Atlantic, I’m really not sure who had the most fun, the boys are myself? There was a lot of laughing that is for sure going on at the house.

The boys asked to do a few things:

  1. Make snow angles
  2. Make snow prints like dinosaurs
  3. Make a snowman
  4. Make snow cream
  5. Have a snowball fight

Well, 4 out of 5 things from that list got completed, which really isn’t a bad odds, especially when we are talking about guys. So, we didn’t make a snowman and it wasn’t for a lack of trying, but the snow was too light to make the base. It was hard even getting a good snowball formed, but with enough pressure, we got those made.

What I’ve learned about being a dad is that sometimes, you just have to live in the moment. Yes, I was working the entire weekend, making updates to our corporate websites, but we were also doing a lot of laughing. And it was during the course of the weekend that I realized how much of that fun that my father missed out on with me. He did have snowball fights with me and he certainty would not have let me win, which is what I did. He wouldn’t have taught me to make snow cream or make gigantic foot prints in the snow like dinosaurs.

What I’m realizing the most about being a parent, is being there in the moment with them. Being able to teach them things, like I showed them how to make scrambled eggs this past weekend. That is an important life skill. And I hope that by sharing some of my knowledge for cooking, which help teach them to focus on details sometimes and other times, through caution into the wind and change things up a little. But what I’ve really learned, is that I hope that my boys have as much fun as I do when we are together and that they pass their love of laughing and having fun when they are fathers.

Parenting is hard work. While my wife was gone, it was just me. Now, I’ve been alone with the boys for up to 5 days before alone, but this time was different. This time, there was an added level of stress with shoveling, extra cooking and cleaning and working, but thinking ahead if we were to lose power, etc.

And something else, I have a new found respect for single parents, as I have no idea how they do it all the time and do everything.

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Growing up as a kid in North Carolina, seeing snow was a really big deal. Maybe once a year we would get a snow shower of an inch or so? Maybe in my 20 years of living in North Carolina I saw several inches, but rarely did I see a lot.

And then, I moved to Mid Atlantic area. I think in my first year, we had several snow storms that had a foot of snow? And then we had the blizzard of 2010 and we had two blizzards in a week and I think we had over 36″ during that one week? But those were all pre-kids for me. I could sleep in, watch tv, read, rest, whatever. But with kids, snow takes on a whole different world.

This morning, as we are watching the snow fall, easily on top of 15 + inches of snow, with another foot plus likely to fall today, the kids are ready to go and play. They want to go and have a snowball fight and run and dive in it and that is all good. But let’s be honest, I’m tired. I shoveled last night and I have to go out and shovel again. Oh and my wife is at work, so it is just me. Me and the boys for probably 3 days in the house is going to be my best guess and they are already stir crazy. I’m going to be heading out for another shoveling run in a few minutes while the kids watch Star Wars.

I know how exciting it is for the boys to see snow, especially this amount of snow. I remember as a kid how excited that I would be at just the thought of seeing snow. But as a parent, I really don’t enjoy it as much. I have to make sure that we have enough food, water and drinks for them, beer & wine for me, stuff to grill (yes, we will grill in the snow on Sunday, as it is a tradition that we grill on Sundays) and that I have to keep the snow shoveled. I love the reactions of my kids faces, running from window to window and how excited that they get, but for me, I think that my excitement will come when my wife gets home and I can take a deep breathe of relief. And when we have our snowball fight later today and I teach them how to make the perfect snow ball.

So everyone out there that is reading this that is effected by the snow, please be safe. Check on friends and family and take care of pets, if you have a grill/smoker, check on that too. And to my sons when you read this, I hope that you had a blast making your first snowman today and having your first snowball fight and if you beat me, I let you win, it is part of being a good Dad.

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I love watching it snow, but crap I hate when I see snow damage. Looks like we have water damage in the boys room.

It is one thing to have damage in our room where it effects my wife and myself. It is another to have an effect on my kids.   I love watching the snow fall, but today the snow damage is not making me feel very good as a father.

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Growing up in the south, we didn’t get snow very often, maybe a few inches a year and that was if we were lucky.
So snow was something that I always looked forward to seeing as a kid.

But now, as an adult, it stinks. There is nothing worse than shoveling out cars and sidewalks. Snow is supposed to be fun. Snow ball fights and snowmen, these are things that are fun about snow. Not shoveling.

Sometimes in life, we get sunny days. Sometimes we get rainy days. And sometimes, we get snow. And it looks like this winter, we have gotten a lot of snow and we still have several more days of it.

I miss the days of watching snow fall to the ground. I remember the anticipation, running to the window to see if it had started yet. Now, though I still love watching it fall, it is the after effects that I dread. But today, I watch it snow and love watching the boys stand at the window and point to it with excitement. I hope that they will grow up loving it the way that I do.

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I love snow, well most days. Lately we have been hit hard with a lot of snow and shoveling gets old after a while. But, as much as I hate shoveling, I love the expressions and the comments that my boys make when they see snow fall.

Baby B ran up to me this week as it started to snow and yelled “Look Daddy, snow!” and he jumped up and down. As I continued to watch it snow with the boys, realizing that I couldn’t take them outside because of the cold air and also they had fevers, it was a little disappointing. But, it is great to see the innocence in their faces and the excitement of watching the snow.

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