snow days, take two

I know that everyone is sick of hearing about snow–those of us in Atlanta and I’m sure the rest of the nation. But currently in the South, weather is dictating life, and we’re collectively learning from our mistakes and ill-preparedness, and making the best of this second round of snow days.

A few weeks ago, when Snowpocalypse hit Georgia, I’ll admit we weren’t prepared. Sure, our pantry and fridge were stocked, but they always are because food and home-cooking are big parts of our lives. I picked up JM from his morning preschool a little early, right before the mass chaos ensued. And thankfully, neither James nor I were caught in gridlocked traffic. What we weren’t prepared for was keeping a two year old cooped up and entertained for days on end, especially when baby brother was sick with a bad cold and ear infections and was on breathing treatments. We made the best of it, but on very little sleep I’ll admit that this mama did not have the energy to keep up with a roving toddler. JM got out in the snow for only about 15 minutes each day because it was so cold outside.

But this time, for Snowmageddon, I was ready. The boys were both well by the end of last week so I’ve actually gotten sleep, though Beau somehow managed to get another upper respiratory infection on Sunday that I’m hoping he’ll fight off before it gets unmanageable. But at any rate, for now I’m getting sleep at night, waking once or twice to feed Beau during a 12-hour period. That means Mama is back. It’s amazing how much you can accomplish when you get some decent rest. Wrestling around with my toddler? Not a problem. We’re making the most of these few snow/ice days and really enjoying them this time. Just this morning, my neighbor (who has two boys) told me how she was getting stir crazy. And it dawned on me that I’m completely content at home getting things done right now. Ask me in a couple days and I’m sure that answer will change though.

JM loves cooking and almost daily asks to “cook cook.” Thankfully, I like cooking too so how could I not say yes. We’ve made quite a few messes whipping up homemade granola bars, gluten-free chocolate chip muffins and shepherd’s pie so far. I’ve learned to let go and assume that we’ll make a massive mess in the kitchen, but that it will be fun and well worth it, and it always is.

In many ways, this inclement weather has been awesome. Since I have energy, it’s given me a chance to clean the house. And I’m talking really clean, like moving all the furniture to vacuum because I’ve got nothing but time. And I just bought a bunch of Method cleaners, which have been put to good use this week. My friend Brittany recently started blogging and sharing ‘recipes’ for natural products. Some of her posts got me to thinking about my own cleaning supplies. One day I’d love to make some of my own cleaning products, but for now, I’m trying to be more mindful of the floors and counters and tubs that two little sets of hands touch constantly. I just trashed a bag full of heavy duty cleaners. They make me nervous in the house even with locks on the cabinets. Method products aren’t as cheap as normal cleaners, but how often do I really need to buy this stuff? Plus, anything that incentivizes me to clean is worth it in my book 🙂 These cleaners smell so good.

Besides cleaning, I’ve also organized, reorganized and decluttered practically the whole house. James’ office was high on the organization list, and thanks to a table donated from my sister, the boys and I swept in like bandits Tuesday night to give Daddy’s office a mini makeover. Like most males, JM had a grand time helping me put the table back together.

I also swapped some furniture in JM’s room with some in the guest room, decluttered the master bedroom, hung artwork in Beau’s room and we started replacing the old brass shower kit in the guest bathroom (aka we discovered we need to hire a plumber for a drip).

And as you can imagine with kids, there’s been playtime, lots of playtime. We’ve kept Beau inside, because the last thing we need is his cold worsening. And luckily he is none the wiser that there’s so much fun to be had outdoors.

JM has ventured out for 45 minutes several times, since 30-degree temps are mild compared to those of two weeks ago. He is well aware of what snow is and doesn’t mind the freezing hands this time 🙂 We trekked through the neighborhood, had a few friendly snowball fights with the neighbor’s kids and even pulled out his ATV so he could ride it up the snow-covered street.

Now, temperatures have risen above freezing, the sun is shining and the snow is starting to melt; life will be back to normal very very soon. I seriously hope the groundhog was wrong and we don’t have 6 more weeks of winter, but if we do, I think we’ll be just fine, provided the boys stay well and Mama gets some sleep. If that’s the case, we can handle anything Mother Nature throws our way.