Successfulbloom

I originally thought I’d write this eloquent and thought provoking post about all of the fun Pintresty things that I did with my kids while we were snowed in for 11 days. YES ELEVEN DAYS!!!! I must confess that I still have illusions of grandeur about what our days off would look like. In my mind I’d be doing crafty art projects, keeping the hot cocoa flowing and of course we’d be frolicking in the snow for hours. Well, I hate to report that was not even remotely close to what went down in our household. Schools were closed but work, as in my full time job, was open. And not only was it open we had to deliver on something with a really, really tight timeline. So tight that it required working late nights and over the weekend in the midst of the epic snow storm. So what did that mean for the kiddos who have been home for going on two weeks? It meant my husband and I had to do a lot of creative tag teaming, both of us had to work.

For example, my Help baby does not care one iota about the fact that I have a headset strapped to my head, when she’s hungry she’s hungry and gets hangry quickly when she falls off of her eating routine. Which at school is something like 10 am, 12pm and 3pm, but this week it felt like every five minutes. I literally had a moment of carrying my laptop with my headset on into the kitchen while fixing the kids lunch., why ,because I was on back to back calls that day. Now, if I had been forward thinking I would have dialed in from my land line, but nooooooooooo that was not how I was operating last week. Let’s be real I was trying to survive.

Trying to keep my job, prevent the kids from overdosing on TV and maintaining some level of marital bliss. Oh and let me add somewhere in there helping shovel over 3 feet of snow. Things were not nearly as Pintresy Perfect as I would have liked. Instead I thought I’d write some of the things I learned during Winter Break Part Deux:

1. Feeding a 4 year old Marshmallows as a hold over snack only results in said

   

   4 year old asking for the “Lellow” every hour on the hour and she will come and find you to fulfill her request.

2. While in theory it would seem like Nick Jr. can help distract the kids for 30 minutes or so that is not the case when there are Barbies and puzzles in the vicinity. No, instead Nick Jr. will be on in the background playing like the theme music in some demented fight till the death screaming match over barbie clothes and puzzle pieces. Note to self: Next blizzard Nick Jr. or fighting, not both.
3. The place where toys live will likely end up looking like a volcanic eruption of Mount Toy. Surely Mt. Toy will explode each and everyday, multiple times a day. It’s all good.  That is, until you make the little angels clean up the toys, then my friend, you are in for a treat. Your children’s burgeoning talent in  the dramatic arts, will be on full display. Complete with crying, whining, tiredness, fainting- every emotion known to man will assault your senses and sanity. You will temporarily marvel at their fervor and commitment to the finer dramatic elements. Do not become dismayed by their over the top antics. Being home bound for ELEVEN days does in fact have some positives.  During snow days you will have the unique opportunity to show them where the art of drama began.
4. A Simple request to clean  up can turn into a “Theater Arts” project when  Mom decides to take part by being equally as dramatic and offers to clean up the toy lava. All it takes is silence and a trash bag. After you’ve asked 8 million times, silently get a gallon trash bag and begin calmly placing toys in the trash bag. And then its like a miracle everyone moves into action. I don’t have to prep my kids with what I’m going to do as we’ve had this discussion  many times over most of the time the rustle of the trash bag is like a director yelling “End Scene!” And everyone scurries to clean up.

   
5. Understand that finding a “quiet place” to work is not really possible. Instead you should seek a location where the herd of buffalo running overhead is muted enough that folks on your conference call remain unaware of  the chaos just outside of your door/over your head. Yep, I retreated to the basement because I needed to read and write uninterrupted. I’ve found this works better than having to press the mute button like your shooting fireballs in the original Super Mario Brothers game…think I successfully dated myself with that last sentence, oh well.

   

6. When you can no longer ignore the sound of buffaloes on roller skates overhead, you may come upstairs and find and actual kid on roller skates. And in that moment go ahead and let out a full belly laugh because you have to appreciate kids and their creativity.

I’d love to hear how you manage working and school or child care not being available during snow days or other natural disasters. How do you keep sane? Share a funny story about something that happened during an unplanned school break in the comments below. I love to hear from you! Be sure to sign up to get updates on the blog and other cool stuff.