Snow Day or My Day As A Stay Home Parent

This winter was slow getting started, but February seems to be making up for it.  We've had two snow days in two weeks.  One of those days I was lucky enough to get to be home with the girls all day.

Let's be frank here - I love going to work and being away from the kids.  I'm almost never home alone with them for 8+ hours (unless you count overnight, which doesn't actually count.)  Now that they're older, and play together pretty well, it's not quite the stress-zone it used to be when they were completely dependant on constant adult supervision and interaction.

I'm happy to say my "mom anxiety" has actually settled down a bit.  I feel as though the girls are learning how to be independent, and slightly more responsible (post about that here), and sometimes they even can get their own food - as long as it's cereal or granola bars.

I took some pictures during our "snow day" so I could share with you all the joys of being home with the kids all day long.  I chose to empty the dishwasher in the morning and when I returned to the living room they had emptied the toy box completely, and every stuffy they own (except for the 100 they each have in their rooms) was on the floor.

People wonder why I don't sit down and watch a movie with the girls.  This was a perfect example.  They put on a movie (after cleaning up 10,000 stuffies) and sat and watched it until it was about 3/4 of the way through.  Then they turned it off and went upstairs to play.  Like what?  Who watches 3/4 of a movie?  I mean it's not like they hadn't seen it before (it was Toy Story 2), but man.  Luckily I was trying to sit and read so it didn't really impact my life much.  And they did return to it maybe an hour later and watch the end.  I'm still amazed how quickly kids can be distracted, or get bored, by what they're doing.  Odd ducks, kids.

Lunch was fine - random stuff, you know.  Carrot sticks, cheese and crackers, bagels and cream cheese, eat what you feel like and then go play.

Afternoon play included craft time.  Which, for my kids, is just another excuse to make a huge mess.  And this was the time I decided to take a few minutes outside to check the build up of snow/ice/water that was falling from the sky.  I got soaked, they created chaos.  But then they cleaned up - without a fight.  I did hope Rose would practice her cutting skills - so she came upstairs while I was showering (after getting soaked outside) to tell me she made one cut in one piece of paper!  That's great Rose, but that won't improve your scissor skills.  Emma is the great crafter in our household.  Rose would rather just look at everything, make a huge mess, and then go find something else to do.  In this case it was have a freezie.

While I was in the shower (for 10 minutes, at the most) Rose came upstairs to talk to me.  "Look at what I have Mommy!" she says.  How does she know I'm right in the middle of washing my hair, with shampoo about to run into my eyes?  And she's not the most patient.  "LOOK MOM!"  So I peek out around the shower curtain.  Now I have to point out that I wear glasses.  I can barely see clearly past the end of my nose.  So I look out, see that a small figure is standing there holding something.  I say "Cool!  What'cha got there?" and she tells me "Emma got me a thing from the freezer!"  Huh?  "Oh, have you got a freezie?" I ask.  "No, there was none, so Emma said 'You can have a frozen yogurt tube, or you can have nothing.'"  That sounds like Emma.  So she was eating a frozen yogurt tube.  I have never had success getting her to try one.  She gobbled it down like it was candy (but not before managing to dribble some onto the couch - where they are not supposed to sit with food...)  Sisters, eh?

After crafts they asked for a 3D movie.  My first thought was that I didn't know what I needed to do to play a 3D movie.  We have the tv and the blu-ray player for it, but I was worried I'd need to actually do something.  Well worry not, the dohickeys all work together and it automatically works in 3D.  Yay!  The hardest part was finding where the 3D glasses were...

Of course the movie they picked for afternoon viewing was Toy Story 3.  This is my 'guaranteed to cry like crazy at the end' movie.  So didn't they wait until almost the end to ask me to sit with them and watch.  And since I spent a decent part of the day reading my book (in the same room as them but not really engaged) I had to do it.  And so I watched, and the tears came, and it was sweet like it always is.  Then I had to make dinner.

Despite the crazy weather Emma's dance class was still on.  Hubby got home at a good time, we ate dinner and off they went to dance class.  I was actually quite impressed with our day.  Almost all messes were cleaned up without much fuss, and no major meltdowns occurred.  I got some reading done, and a book review created.  Makes me feel like I could do this full-time parenting thing, once in a while.  The only thing the day was missing was a nap - for me!

Friday Night Concert in the Rain - I Still Had Fun!

I went to a concert Friday night - if you've been following me much you saw my post about how excited I was to go.  No, I'm not going to say I wasn't excited by the time it rolled around, but it rained like crazy all day.  Everyone asked me if I was still going.  I mean everyone - all my coworkers, my kids, even my husband who knows better.

I worked until 5pm.  I had a haircut scheduled for 5:30 which was about an hour, and I got drenched going the half block from my car to the salon.  When I left there it was still raining but not nearly as heavily.  My hair looked lovely - I did decline the makeup touchups (which implies I had makeup on in the first place, and I definitely didn't) as I knew I'd be standing in the rain later.

I was thinking I should eat, but I was anxious-excited for the show so I didn't want to go sit in a restaurant by myself for an hour.  I went to a coffee shop where I could see Market Square - where the concert was going to be - as well as how badly it was raining out.  The only people in the square were the crew for the show and some radio station people - oh and the people who work for the city that were putting this on.

As the time rolled on (very slowly) a few wanderers straggled around the square, then disappeared, then reappeared, sometimes standing under the radio people's umbrellas, and some people even came into the tiny coffee shop I was sitting in.

Concert in the Rain

With about 15 minutes to go before the openers were to start I wandered across the square (it's still raining!) and down to the bathroom, and when I came out there were a few standing knots of people that I went and joined right up front of the stage.

The opening band was a little hesitant about getting out there and playing in the pouring rain, but they did it.  The band was PS I Love You and they were good - also a local band which I didn't know.  There set was loud and a little raunchy - the mix was off and I really could not hear the singing at all, but otherwise it was good!

More people had congregated to the square by this time - like maybe 50.  It was still raining.  They squeegeed off the stage a few times and hesitantly moved some of the tarps off some of the stuff.  By the time the main act was to begin the rain had let up - not fully stopped, but let up.  However by this time I was soaked right through my coat and I was freezing!

Then Hawksley Workman appeared and everyone got excited and he made some comment about how we were all crazy for being out in the rain, but thanks for being here!  He disappeared for a bit while they continued to set up (and clean up), and his set started at 9pm.

They were fabulous.  Their mix was right and I could hear everything perfectly.  Might have helped that I was able to take my hood off!  The sky cleared right up (well, mostly) and I even dried up a bit.  This Hawksley Workman guy (who I haven't seen in at least 10 years) is a real character.  Lots of rambling conversation, as well as lots of great guitar work - the songs were awesome!   I even enjoyed the ones I didn't know!

All-in-all fabulous evening with myself for company, and some rain on my parade.  I'd do it again for sure.  Thanks to hubby for volunteering to stay home with the girls - and no thanks to my friends who all thought I was crazy for going to this despite the rain.

Share your concert stories in the comments - or comment on how truly crazy I am for standing in the rain!

Toodles!