Oh, the shame!

So we survived the snow. Barely. In the end, DC got hit by a serious amount of snow. Enough to make even a real snow city blink. And it happened twice. The first day of snow was fun, although the kids didn't enjoy sledding very much. Lots more violent bouncing and snow in the face than I remember when I was a kid. Apparently, things like snow in the face, or cold more generally, are kind of overlooked, and subsequently forgotten, when one is 10 years old. By the second snowfall on Wednesday, we were all sick of the snow - we sat there watching, with bemusement, as another vicious storm swept through the area. Trying to figure out what the heck we were going to do for the next few days.

DC never handles snow well, but this was a pretty serious double whammy. The snow basically shut the city down for an entire week. My work was closed, and Abby's work was completely inaccessible. And, most importantly, the daycare was closed. So we spent the entire week together, with Abby and me trying to get work done remotely. Despite the difficulties getting in touch with co-workers. And despite the kids.

I have to say, I have much more respect for stay-at-home moms after the last few weeks. Being at home with kids is a serious chore. They are very demanding little suckers. After a few days, we tried a sort of divide-and-conquer strategy. I would take the kids to Barnes and Noble for a few hours, pulling them down the street in the sled to get there, while Abby did some work. Then they'd either nap or Abby would entertain them while I did some work. Or we'd put them in front of that great, hypnotic technological innovation - the TV - more than we did in the past. (We did manage a great trip to Philly after the snow, which is the source of some of the pics below.)

We've basically gotten back in the swing of things over the last week. Until yesterday. Yesterday morning, the daycare sent out a message that a case of head lice had been reported in the preschool room. And they subsequently told us that both Teddy and Margaret showed some evidence of infestation. Now, the kids are obviously quite blonde, so it's very easy to spot dark stuff in their hair, whether or not it's a nit. And lice are sort of like bedbugs, at least in spirit - you feel so icky that you overreact and throw absolutely everything into the washer at high heat. But, having checked Margaret's head a few times, it would appear that she does have some evidence of lice nits. Which really sucks. You have to wash their hair with this nasty medicine stuff. And you have to work through their hair with a fine-tooth comb. Which is difficult enough with Teddy's short hair - he screamed the whole time - but is really difficult with Margaret's long hair. We'll probably take her to the barber tomorrow to get a few inches taken off, just to make things easier. That will be her second haircut ever.

Hopefully, we'll be able to take care of it. The kids' resistance to the whole process is bad enough, but the paranoia is worse. Frankly, I'm feeling a little itchy myself. It's probably all in my mind, but...

Snow!

It's snowing again. And it's snowing hard.

This is the third real snowfall that we've had this winter in DC. The first happened right before Xmas, as I documented in my last post. Just before the first snowfall, I checked around to see if any of the local hardware stores had sleds. No luck. So I later bought a sled at a random store during a trip to NoVa, just in case it snowed again. Luckily, we were able to use the sled when it snowed last weekend, as you can see in the pictures below. It turns out that sledding is a bit more turbulent than I recall from my youth, so the kids didn't like the "big" hills very much. Too much bouncing and snow flying in the face. Instead, they mainly had fun on a little hill. Or they just liked getting pulled around in the sled.

And it's snowing again tonight, so we'll probably be able to use the sled again tomorrow. And, like I said, it's snowing hard. I think that we're supposed to get around 16 inches, which is a pretty respectable snowfall anywhere, but is especially traumatizing for a place like DC which doesn't handle snow very well. We always manage to survive, despite the empty shelves of milk and vegetables at the grocery store this morning - plenty of bok choy, but not much else - but the city basically shuts down when we get a couple of inches, much less 16.

In preparation for the snowfall, we read a bunch of snow-related books before bed last night. We read A Snowy Day - an absolute classic, especially the part when Peter, the little boy in the story, takes a stick, which Margaret always calls a "Maddie stick," drags it along the ground and then smacks a "snow-covered tree." "Down fell the snow - plop - on top of Peter's head." At which point Margaret, and now Teddy, as the consummate mimic, always bangs me on the head. I especially like the conclusion when Peter calls to his friend from across the hall, and they go out together into the deep, deep snow. That line just gets me with a sense of utter tranquility and simplicity.

We also read White Snow, Bright Snow, another classic snow tale. That one also has a great ending as the kids watch for the first robin to the let them know that spring has finally arrived.

We finished with my favorite snow book of all, Snow by Uri Shulevitz. I just love this book. My sister, Rachel, was reading it to Margaret at one point and stopped in the middle to say, "This is a really good book." Indeed.

The skies are gray. The rooftops are gray. The whole city is gray.

Then...

...one snowflake.

"It's snowing," said boy with dog.

"It's only a snowflake," said grandfather with beard.

Then two snowflakes. "It's snowing," said boy with dog.

"It's nothing," said man with hat.

Then three snowflakes. "It's snowing," said boy with dog.

"It'll melt," said woman with umbrella.

A few snowflakes float down and melt.

But as soon as one snowflake melts another takes its place.

"No snow," said radio.

"No snow," said television.

But snowflakes don't listen to radio.

Snowflakes don't watch television.

All snowflakes know is snow, snow, and snow.

Snowflakes keep coming and coming and coming.

circling and swirling, spinning and twirling,

dancing, playing, there, and there,

floating, floating through the air,

falling, falling everywhere.

And rooftops grow lighter, and lighter.

"It's snowing," said boy with dog.

The rooftops are white.

The whole city is white.

"Snow," said the boy.

There are these kids books that get you as an adult. They aren't necessarily the ones that appeal to the kids, nor are they ones that the kids don't like. A Snowy Day is one. Snow is another. I also like Make Way For Ducklings or other books by Robert McCloskey (especially Lentil with its robber baron, the great Colonel Carter). Basically, anything that hits you with its rhythm, flow and good narrative is a book that's fun to read. Dr. Seuss has the rhythm and flow, but I often find his narrative to be lacking. But give me a good Madeline book, and I'm happy.