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...