Monday, February 10, 2014

Snow Season

There are two ways to react to the snow, and your response often depends on your age. As a child, you wish for snow. You wear your pajamas inside out and backwards, you sleep with a spoon under your pillow, you follow through with every superstition possible to ensure at least a flake of snow to cancel school. Then you spend the entire snow day playing outside, scraping together a snowman, drinking hot chocolate, and having fun. A snow day for a child is the best.
 But once you get older and start having more responsibilities, you learn to hate the inconvenience of snow. Because when you are an adult, your responsibilities don’t depend on the weather. When you are an adult and it snows, things get rescheduled and your whole week becomes a jumbled mess. You quickly find out that life doesn't stop for snow; it just becomes more inconvenient.

This week, it’s supposed to snow. When I saw the forecast, I couldn’t help but grumble. I have classes, and information sessions, and doctors appointments, and study groups, and a test. I don’t want to have to reschedule everything. It actually put me in a really bad mood.

However, in the midst of my grumbling, I was provided with a reality slap in the face perspective shift. You see, one of my children (yes, that’s what I call the kids I work with) has been told he doesn’t have much time left. Right now he is home, and enjoying the time he has left with his family. Tonight his mom posted that she is excited that it might snow so that her sweet son can enjoy a final snow day.

Bring on the snow. I hope there’s enough snow for him to build a snowman bigger than himself. I hope he plays and builds things and laughs and smiles, until it is time to come inside for some hot cocoa and a nap. I hope that he has the best snow day, for him and for his family.

So yes, while I’m excited for spring time and warmer weather, for this week I am going to be content in the snow. For this week, I am reminded that joy can be found in every season.