I Just Need to Get Warm!

That's what M told me tonight after he got out of the tub. The poor kid had to run to put his jammies on to keep from getting frostbite in the kitchen - it was only 62 degrees. I have the heat turned up to 68 degrees, like always, but I guess it's so cold outside the furnace just can't keep up.

We were on our way to E's ECFE class this morning when I heard on the radio that all schools were ending two hours early due to a winter storm warning. I thought the school administrators were being a little bit overcautious since it wasn't snowing and it was 12 degrees outside. Yes, it was cold, but nothing a good Minnesotan can't handle. Well, they proved me wrong. By the time E's class was half over the teacher was looking nervously out the window. The temp had dropped ten degrees, the wind had picked up (bending big trees over), and it was snowing...hard. She ended class 45 minutes early and we were on our way back home again at 10:30am. I have never driven in a blizzard before, and I hope to never do so again. It usually takes me 12 minutes to get from E's school to our house. Today it took almost an hour, and it was white knuckle driving the whole way. I couldn't see the car in front of me or behind me - the world was completely whited out - I think visibility was about five feet - and we crept along at about 10 mph the whole dang way home. All three boys seemed to sense the tension in the car because they didn't make a peep until we pulled into our driveway. M then said, "Whew, that was blurry. It's good to be home." I couldn't have said it better myself.

We huddled up in our nice fairly warm house, watched movies, and packed up the office for the rest of the afternoon. By 4pm M was pretty stir crazy (he gets really bored when he doesn't go to school) and was driving me crazy, and then the phone rang. Our friends up the hill called to invite us up for dinner, and within two minutes my boys were dressed and ready to go. I have never seen them get ready that fast before - it was really quite impressive. The boys had a great time playing with their friends, and Chris and I had a good time talking with ours - it was the best way to spend a VERY cold Minnesota winter evening. Not to mention - they had a fireplace.

Now, my boys lay cuddled up in their down sleeping bags (courtesy of cousin Jack and Grandpa Chocolate) in a tent in their room. I have no idea why they decided to camp tonight, and I didn't care because they were in their beds and asleep within 10 minutes. As far as I can tell, one of the golden rules of parenting must be something to do with give them whatever they want if it will get them in their beds. As I tucked them into their tent M told me, "now you can sleep in my bed and Daddy can sleep in E's bed." Gee, that's nice M, but how bout not.

Photo by Ken Klotzbach