Today was a snow day. And, boy, do students (and teachers too, by the way) recognize the value of such a day! It is always very exciting to watch the list of school closings whiz by at the bottom of the television screen. It's a rare thing. Suddenly you are handed an unexpected day off -- one tailor made for sledding, snowman building, and tomato soup eating. A day like this is not to be wasted, clearly. Look. See? The thirteen or fourteen year old punk who stood at the side of the road today and NAILED my passing vehicle with a snowball knows this. He's livin' it up. And initially, I had to remind myself of this. See, at first, I just wanted to pull over and uncharacteristically unload on him every expletive I know. But no. Take a deep breath, Whitney. It's just bigtime snow fun... RUDE and exponentially AGGRAVATING snow fun... but my original point --- that this kid's not sitting idly by and wasting his snow day --- is made.
That's why I felt so sorry for my Jack this morning. Today was his first real snow day, bailing him out of all of his demanding preschool obligations and all. And well, it was just pretty much a waste. Even at five, his economic awareness of "snow day scarcity" is emerging. He's sick, and somewhere around 4 a.m. this morning, I sat with him as he threw up into a small, blue bathroom trashcan that he held in between his knees. He heaved a few times and then cast a wistful look toward his bedroom window. Even in the dark, the ground, rooftops, and sky reflected a pretty white. As sorrowfully as he could, he said these words. "Oh mannn. All the other kids are going to get to go outside and play in the snow. But I have to stay in. I'm sick." Ahhh, yes Jack. The poor kid got gypped, and he knows it.
And when it rains... (or snows, in this case) Little Emma didn't have it all that great either. The two month doctor visit is primarily about painful shots in tiny legs, I've now remembered. And while she doesn't yet realize the poor timing of infant vaccinations on a snow day... a sympathetic Momma does. Gypped.
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