Snow Days

Holy Snow Batman! So in the last 2 weeks… we have had President’s Day, 3 snow days, 2 late starts, and one early release. In case you need help with the math… that means in the last 10 possible days of school, we have had 3 full days. WE. ARE. SCREEN-FREE!!! Meaning, no TV, no videos, no tablets… NOTHING! And it is not Spring, or Fall, or Summer. We are in the heart of winter here on the east coast, and it is COLD!  I think when I make a commitment, out loud, to my children… God just says… ”Hahahahahahahahaha…. Thou shalt be tested to keeping thy word… I cast upon thee…snow days.” (said in my best God voice of course). 

Ok… so it hasn’t been that horrible, but it has been a challenge. There have been many a day in the last couple weeks I have wanted to cave. And to be honest, I have cheated a couple times… I haven’t let me children… but I have. I’ve been online a couple times for the sake of killing time after everyone is in bed. I’m thankful for grace, and glad I still have my sanity. :)

Our first snow, we got about 7 inches here at the house. It was a super powdery snow. The first couple of days it wasn’t so bitterly cold that the kids couldn’t get out in it. So we had lots of sledding fun, tons of shoveling, and a very, very sad attempt at a snowman. 

 

We had a couple days of super bitter cold. No one was going outside. So we had painting, and board games, and reading, and legos, and more games, and more reading, and more legos, and more pipe cleaner jewelry than a girl could ever need.  

And just as a week rolled around, and the first day I could see grass on the ground again… we got another 3-4 inches. This was a better snowman making snow. :) And we got smart and rigged up (in the most ghetto fashion possible) a “snow plow” (I used that term very loosely) so we had a lot less shoveling.

I’m not going to lie and say it was all peachy… there were some fights, there were some, “what can we do NOW?” comments thrown out there… but all in all not horrible. I will say this… My house has been messier and louder in the last 3 weeks of no screens than it normally is, but my kids have used their brains and interacted with each other and laughed more in the last 3 weeks than normal too.  The kids have been helping out with things I normally do for them, like helping with meal prep, cleaning, unloading/reloading the dishwasher, loading and unloading washing machines, and folding laundry. These are all things they should probably have been doing, but it was easier for me to do it alone rather than have them help me. The initial goal was to get better attitudes for the kids, though I think God did a lot of teaching me the lessons on this one.  I really didn’t realize how much I wasn’t interacting with my kids they way I should. It’s not that I wasn’t interacting; I just don’t think I was doing it to the best of my ability. 

The verse  Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the away he should go; and when he is old, he will not depart from it has been through my mind about a million times in the last couple weeks.  

It is not always the easiest or the fastest way, but it necessary.  I’m not saying we will always be screen-free… we actually have a family movie night planed on Sunday to celebrate getting screens back… but it has definitely made me aware of how I over used them, and how to be better in my parenting as I move forward. 

So an update on goals…

-I still miss soda… I probably will all year long… but I haven’t caved.

-This month has been cold and snowy. I have been running, but not nearly as much as I need to in order to reach my goal. I’m hoping for some motivation to come with the spring weather.

-I haven’t left the house a lot with all the snowy weather, but I have been putting things in piles of where they are going… so not a lot of things have left my house this month, but many, many things have a destination.

-It’s been screen –free… so obviously haven’t given in to the Thursday night TV or R rated movies.

-I’m working on friends and getting plugged in. I took a leap of faith and started a run club at school. I still don’t love running, but I like for my kids to be active and this was a great way to get to know kids and teachers at school, so I’m going for it. Wish me luck.

-We have a paint day scheduled for tomorrow… so hoping it happens. I also finally have a vision of what I would like to do with décor… so at least I have something to work toward. ;)

-During screen free month I have got a lot of Bible reading done. :) I’m finally ahead of schedule on one of these things. 

And now a confession… I tried to scam the rule. I tried to see what I could get away with, without “technically” breaking a rule… and God put me in my place.  So I bought the girls these super cute/stylish headbands that I could “borrow.” Well, I let Eleni wear it to school first, obviously, because I’m not making accessory and clothing purchases for myself this year. I made sure to remind her to take extra special care of this headband and not to loose it (she never looses her headbands… I’m not sure why I felt the need to emphasize it to her this day… but I did). And the first thing she said to me when I picked her up from school, “I’m really sorry mom, I lost the headband today.” For real? Truth be told… I bought the dang thing for me and passed it off as something I could share with the girls, and she went and lost it. I even had the nerve to make her go back and look for it. I think it was God saying, “you can’t lie to me… I know your heart even if you don’t say it aloud.” So I’m saying it aloud to all of y’all reading… I cheated and I didn’t even get to wear the dang thing! Lesson learned.

I appreciate all the kind and encouraging comments, texts, and messages that people send. I’m glad that some of you can get something out of my ramblings. I still really miss Missouri and everything and everyone that comes with it.  It is always so nice to hear from home… especially during these cold, screen-free days. :)

 

Thanks for joining me on the journey!