Okay
people, it’s been a week of getting our kids ready for school each morning with
the added bonus of puffy and fuzzy and bulky gear. Up here in Pleasantville, many of us walk our kiddos to
class each day, so getting them physically and mentally ready for the trek can
be a slightly daunting and down right laborious task. But getting out the door in time to walk to school is a
piece of cake compared with the alternative of having to navigate the world of
the carpool line. I avoid carpool
like the plague. Drop-off and pick-up in a school’s carpool line could
seriously be a challenge on Survivor, and I’m telling you people would get
hurt.
But back
to kids and snow. I have been
keeping a mental list of a few lessons I’ve learned in the past four days that
might help another snow-pant-tugging mother in need.
1.
Always,
always, always have back-up snow gloves.
Not a pair of cheap three-dollar Walgreen’s back-ups either. I'm telling
you, invest in two sets of good, waterproof snow gloves per kid. They WILL be used the night before to
play in the snow, and even after your best attempts to dry them on the heat
vents or radiators in your house, won’t be fully dry the next morning. You could keep throwing everything in
the dryer, but you’ll forget to, and then you’ll have glove meltdown at 8:35
AM.
2.
Keep
a basket of beach towels near the front door. I have mine in the front coat
closet, and before my wet and frosted kids come barreling in I throw down the
towels. One or two won’t do it
either. Ya need at least four each
time they disrobe, because if your kids are anything like mine, as soon as they
come inside, frozen and snow laden stuff starts flying and for some reason they’re
always in a race to get it all off.
(Wish that same sense of urgency happened in the morning, when putting it all back on.)
3.
DO NOT under any circumstances, put your own toasty outerwear on
and then try and help your kids get suited up. There is nothing worse than trying to pull, and tug and yank
at their various winter accessories, while encased in your own. Go with what they
tell ya when flying on an airplane with kids. Take care of them first, and save yourself for last.
4.
Asking
your kids to stay on the sidewalk while walking to school after a big ol’ snow
is like asking us to stay on the main path while walking past the shoe
department at Nordstrom…it simply can’t be done. Just cover them as much as
possible, strap their backpacks to their backs, and leave the house at least
ten minutes earlier than normal.
5.
Just
embrace the crazy, messy, chaos of it all. And remember… it’s okay if your
house looks like small, snow-loving people live there. Manage what you can, try your best to
contain the gear, and then clean it all up in the Spring.
Hey, we
live in the Midwest…snow happens. Let’s learn to deal with it and have fun. Now
go get those towels.