In some ways, I could really like this weather. It’s really winter, finally, in Kentucky. There’s a foot of snow on the ground, I’ve been able to stay home from school for three days, and my familiar little town looks like a winter playground. I am, after all, an Iowan, and thus used to cold and snow.
But I have classes scheduled (this week, cancelled just an hour or two before I teach!), and each change in the schedule requires lots of juggling and responding to flurries of emails from students. And I have kids who don’t seem to understand that I need to go outside and shovel on my own, since they think it too cold to be out for long and help. I would prefer they not turn Lord of the Flies the moment I step out the door. A hint: somebody dies in that book. And their short legs and tiny bodies don’t seem to hold up well against some bitter cold and wind and piles of snow. Sigh. And, no, I don’t like being solo local parent, glad as I am that Sydney was able to spend time with his family in Nova Scotia and combine that trip with a conference in St. Louis.
But, in good news, I got one day in the office to myself once the kids’ school reopened (my school was closed, but Nathaniel’s nursery was open, so off they went for a change of pace!), we got a few quiet mornings and easy days in which to help the kids through the worst of the coughs they both picked up last week, we built some amazing Lego structures together yesterday that I would never have time for otherwise, and my kids clamoured for chickpea curry for supper. Hurray!
Erin
Alan Schmierer