Southern Snow

It's a funny thing when it snows here in the south.  People only want it to snow so they don't have to go to school or work.  You may get a few good hours of play out of it, but then everything turns icy and you are stuck inside going crazy!  Everything is closed because 'we don't know how to drive in this stuff'!  I also don't understand why grocery stores are wiped out of bread and milk.  First off, if the power goes out, your milk isn't going to do you much good...unless you are storing it outside in the snow.  Secondly, what do you plan on eating for the next few days?  Dry bread?  PB&J's for every meal?  I guess us Redneck folk don't know any better.

Real men wear purple

I also like how unprepared inventive we are when it snows.  Thankfully, Ella gets hand-me-downs from a cousin who has snowsuits.  So she was all set.  Unfortunately Aiden gets hand-me-downs from Ella, and all the snowsuits are purple.  Poor kid.

Brian insisted on layering the kid's clothes and was determined they would not get cold.  Ella was alright.  Everything matched down to her boots.  She was also lucky to have a little wiggle room too.  Aiden on the other hand was not so lucky.  It started with the tights.  Yes, tights.  Pink and green and white striped tights.  Over the tights were leggings and then jeans.  Up top he had on a long sleeved shirt and a hoodie. 
Over all of this went his purple snow suit and an almost too small snow jacket.  On with an extra pair of socks and two sets of mittens.  We covered up the purple with some (manlier) sweat pants.  I could hardly fit his boot (a rain boot) over his pants.  We caked his cheeks with lanolin and he was ready go to out.  He couldn't put his arms down.  I couldn't help but laugh.  He fell almost instantly after stepping into the snow.  He couldn't get up by himself.  I laughed again.  The bad Mommy in me watched him roll from side to side like a fish out of water before calling Brian to help.  Shame on me. 

I sat inside with Riley and we observed out the window.  There was Brian and the kids.  He was pulling them down the street on a homemade sled he rigged up out of his old office sign.  When he came back he was hauling two extra kids.  I bet if you squeezed them all on there it could have been a five-seater.  Problem was that it is just a slick flat piece of corrugated aluminum.  This reminded me of the cartoons when someone falls down the hill and turns into a snowball.  The more he pulled them through the thick snow, the more it just piled on.  It was pretty funny. 

My attention turned to something pink I saw whiz past me.  A neighbor had blown up a hot pink pool float.  I watched as the man ran down the street pulling his kid behind on the float.  I then watched the man stumble and fall and land face first into the snow.  I laughed out loud.  Riley smacked the window looking longingly outside.  I wondered if she saw it too. 

Brian had loaned out the other half of the sign to some other neighbors down the street.  They were grouped up with some kids who were using a lid to a tote as a sled.  I'm not sure how well that worked out.  I also saw a kid with a boogie board.  That seemed to work alright...maybe.  He would run holding the board to his chest and dive into the snow and slide about a foot.  He looked a little disappointed.  I probably would have been too.  Our neighbor next door (who still has NOT taken down his Christmas decorations) inflated a raft.  You know the kind you pull behind a boat.  Oh my, I thought.

An hour later Brian and the kids were coming inside.  All those wet clothes.  Just leave them outside so I don't have to think about the amount of laundry that I have to do now!  After getting everybody warm and dressed Brian called me from upstairs.  The neighbor next door had hooked the raft up to his pick up truck.  His daughter (9 years old?  10 maybe?) was sitting in the raft.  I was surprised that my first thought was not that of safety.  I was thinking about the exhaust and that it must have smelled terrible.  My second thought was, hey that's something MY dad would have done.  Wait a minute, I think I just had a flash back of me sledding down a hill in the mountains with my dad driving next to me in the jeep clocking my speed.  I also remember sparks flying off of the back of the sled.  I think I remember him telling me that it was "as slick as snot."  At what point did he think there may have been a chance that he could have run over me?  Guess it wouldn't have been the first time...but that's a whole different story.  Anyway, Brian and I contemplated what was going to happen once he went downhill and her raft started going faster than the truck.  I'm not really sure how that worked out for them.  I enjoyed watching the neighborhood out on our 'snow day'.  I also enjoyed staying inside NOT getting out in the snow.  I went out when it snowed after Christmas and that was enough for me.  Bah-Hum Bug!  I'll keep the house warm for you and have some hot chocolate ready when you come in!