Cabin Fever

What’s the worst part about the snow?  There are a few choices, among them driving (if necessary), the cold, cabin fever, and the inordinate amount of time it takes to get bundled-up go outside to play.  It’s even worse with Jack.  I don’t know about other two-year olds but this one wants to go outside, but not for very long.  So you have to take forever getting him and yourself dressed only to have to do the whole thing in reverse a few minutes later.  Only then you have to do a semi dance/balancing act while trying to drip on the smallest amount of floor possible.

Of course there is a plus side.  It is pretty, if you work at a school there’s a decent chance of getting a day or two off and best of all it’s fun.  So far the snow has been too dry for snowman building, but we’ve had a good time sledding and pulling each other through the backyard.  We even hooked the dogs to the sled and had them pull for a bit.  Lucas has been the main recipient of the mushing.  He’s been pulled around the yard, through the neighborhood and half-way across town.  Luckily we found a pair of snowpants for him, or as he calls them snoveralls.    I could be wrong, but he may have coined that term.  Jack was also given a chance at being pulled, but each time he looked like he was falling asleep.  You really couldn't tell if he was enjoying himself, but he certainly looked peaceful.

Friday was a big day for us.  The boys hadn’t been to school all week because of the snow.  We could get Lucas there, but it is too far to walk Jack to his, so we kept them both home.  But Friday was the parent tea – where the parents are invited to visit Lucas’ school to see what the kids work on.  We are also served snacks – Lucas gets excited about making tea for us.  But mostly we go to hear the kids sing.  And to video, of course.  I was very proud of Lucas, he sang most of the songs and was very well behaved.  That may not sound like high praise, but it is sincere.

That afternoon I towed Lucas over to a park to go sledding with his friend Matthias.  I put my limited knotting knowledge to work and rigged a harness to loop around myself so I could pull him on a sled.  At the park he ended up running into a bush and quickly gave up on sledding but we had a good time.  Kim drove in the snow for the first time and we went over to Matthias’ house for dinner and some wild time for the kids. 

We got home about nine o’clock and there was a car parked in front of our house.  Kim joked about having company.  True enough.  As soon as we got in the house there was a knock at the door.  A kid had crashed his dad’s Subaru into our van.  No one else seemed to have trouble on our street but he managed to find enough ice to send him spinning.  He sat there until we got home – about a half hour later.  I give him all kinds of credit for that. 

His dad, however, gave him all kinds of grief.  He had shown up while I was on the phone with the insurance company and let the kid have it for not being the one who called and for “hot-dogging.”  I think he suspected his son was going too fast.  He may have been, but we’ll never know.  Frankly, we don’t care.  It’s instances like this that keep us off the road when it’s snowy.

How will things go with the insurance company?  Hopefully better than the last time we were hit.  That one took about six months to see any money.  This time they are sending the appraiser to our house, which is handy.  They say he’ll hand me a check and then if the repairs cost more they’ll give me more.  The van is so old though that I have to worry if the repairs will be more than the thing is worth.  If so, there may be a different car in the near future.