Friday, January 30, 2009

Little boxes on the hillside

It was the night before the last day of January.

A mother with numb fingers stood in the foyer staring at the muddy puddles of melted snow on her hideous white tiled floor and sighed out loud at the mound of winter layers and snowsuits. In the distance, the faint sound of the television was competing with the voices of three pretty children begging for hot coco, "With only two days left of January, Cleveland is three inches short of making this the most snowiest January in history."

The mother whom was still in her Juicy sweats not showered turned off the evening news and popped in a feature length Disney movie for the fifth sixth seventh time that January. She carefully balanced a polished silver tray of three hot cocos in matching penguin mugs with six tiny marshmallows afloat at the top, to the family room where the sound of six bare feet pranced around to music. "Sit down. Relax. Mama has to clean the garage so Daddy has a place to park, after a long day at the office."

The children were left in the care of Flora, Fauna, and Miss Merryweather as the mother re-dressed herself for the mundane task of picking up outside toys in unattractive winter bibs, weatherproof boots, and designer Target fleece earmuffs.

Outside she dusted the snow off of a butterfly net, emptied a sand pail full of snow, shook the snow off a princess scooter and pushed a snowy big wheel into the garage. The plastic sleds, a winter favorite, had been buried under two feet of snow since the New Year. She sighed again and feverishly swept the snow away from her house little box made of ticky tacky so that the garage door sensor wouldn't sense the drifting snow.

With each graceful sweep of the broom a new image, from the snowy day, surfaced.


Her youngest child spent hours filling pails of and pails of fluffy suburban snow.


Her son whom forgot his two pairs of boots at school, which was closed for a snow day, in pink boots rode his big wheel down the hillside past a blue house and a yellow one.


And the child in the middle whom was determined to ride as far down as the house of the business executive, on her princess scooter.


The youngest of the kin sat quietly observing the sleepy perfect suburban cul-de-sac being buried by the snow, waiting patiently for spring.


They all played in the snow with their spring toys until the child in the middle, a true testament of the stay-at-home-mother's faith, declared she was done.

The mother peeked outside, before closing the garage door, observing the parade of European sports cars struggling up the hillside bringing husbands back home. The snow continued to fall well into that night, the night before the last day of January, blanketing the homes in the development.

She closed her eyes at the end of the day after lovingly tucking her pretty children into bed and prayed to God that spring was around the corner because the perfect little box in the suburbs that held her stir crazy, spring seeking, energetic children in realized that there was still at least ten more weeks of winter left, in Cleveland.

10 more weeks.

******

From the bottom of my heart I thank all of you that commented, emailed, and twittered me regarding my last post. If you have a minute please send some of your love Angie's way whose husband is not doing very well at all in his fight with cancer.

58classy comments:

Miss said...

You're a kick ass suburban mommy.

Anonymous said...

That is a lot of snow! It's snow upon, more snow, upon more snow. But it's pretty!

Anonymous said...

what a poet you are. This story was lovely, even though I was romanticizing the tale, while I rest my sore arms after shoveling ice and snow for hours on end. Then I remembered calling you yesterday for vacay help....SPRING, HURRY UP!!

Anonymous said...

love the weeds referencing, but glad to know your jobs are a little bit more ticky-tacky.

GypsiAdventure said...

Winter...it is so pretty in pictures and even more lovely to visit, but spring...that is SO MUCH FUN!!!

Glad the kids had fun - lovely pictures!!
~K

Rhea said...

What a sweet story! Great photos. I'm amazed by all that snow. It's so awesome! No snow here. Only a few days of ice so far. Please send some my way.

Anonymous said...

I love "Weeds". :)

the planet of janet said...

snow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Corinne Cunningham said...

I love, LOVE, the picture of your youngest waiting for spring! That's exactly how I feel!

What a great post, thank you!

Becca said...

This is absolutely adorable! and so are the pictures of course!

Kim said...

WOW.. WOW.. love love the photos.. I am so glad you had such a GREAT day out in the snow!!!

Jennifer said...

The thing that cracks me up the most is that we have the same bucket for the beach that will probably never see snow!

Krystyn @ Really, Are You Serious? said...

Best. Mommy. Ever!

I loved the story...and the pictures. I want to take Fifi home with me. Look at her in that chair and with that umbrella.

Thank you for making me appreciate the south a little more. Come on spring!!!

Jessica said...

What cute pictures of your kiddos!!!! I'll pray that Spring comes faster than you think...

amanda said...

love the pictures. i can totally see my kids doing the same things in a few years. :0)

Brea in Texas said...

I know you're ready for spring, but might the snow stick around for another week? I've never truly seen it snow (ok, once every 5 or 6 years it 'snowed' in Houston, where I grew up. But that just consisted of 14 white little flakes that all happened to fall at the same time. We called it snow. We didn't know any better.), and I've never seen snow on the ground. And my best friend, who lives in Cincinnati, has convinced me to visit her next weekend, and I'm quite excited about the cold weather.

So maybe could we extend winter just a bit? Pretty please?

And that was a lovely post. Pics of your kids always make me happy. My middle child is also a Middle Child. I told her that if I have even one single gray hair before I turn 27, she will never, ever get an allowance. :)

~Brea

Don Mills Diva said...

I know how Fifi feels - I've been waiting for spring for about a month now...

AutoSysGene said...

3 snow days already. We're going to be going to school until the end if June at this rate.

I so need some Spring...STAT!

Bethany said...

I love snow. What I don't love is ice!! And that's what we have over here. No power since Monday!!! I've been staying with my in-laws for three days. And speaking of dreams...I woke my husband up in the middle of the night because I was screaming in my sleep. I had a nightmare I was staying with my in-laws. :)

TheScrappyMama said...

Ooohhh, my kiddo would be in heaven! We lived in Boston when she was born, but moved when she was 6 months. Now that we are back home in TN we only get about an inch of snow at a time and she thinks it's the grandest thing.

All of your kiddos look like they had a great time! Love the way you told the story.

Hey it's Amy Benson said...

I wanna come play too! :D
You sound like the funnest mom on the block. Love the photos too- Great post!!

Hailey said...

Damnit. I want to be a suburban mom just like you. Minivan and all. I'm jealous. Well, maybe not jealous of the minivan... haha.

Thank goodness NC doesn't get much snow. We had some last week. This week it has been up to 70. In the summer, do y'all miss the snow? Just wondering.

Flea said...

We'll see what Mr. Groundhog says here in a few days. I love the pink boots on your boy! I just wish we'd get some of that snow. Can anyone say Global Warming?

tiarastantrums said...

love the photos! Your kids are so awesome to ride their scooters and big wheels in the snow!

the mama bird diaries said...

WOW - That is a ton of snow.

Winter is so fierce. Sigh...

Love the little one waiting for spring. Too adorable!!

Unknown said...

TEN WEEKS? You guys have a different ground hog there in Cleveland? I'm done with winter and if that rodent sees his shadow Monday, I may harm him.

Cecily R said...

You my friend, most certainly know how to make the most out of a snow day. Your pictures are FABULOUS. :)

The Daily Stroll said...

Adorable pictures! You can send some of the snow here to Dallas! :) So far all we have had is ice! Not that I get to go outside right now to see any of it and probably won't get to go outside until Spring thanks to my sentence of hospital bedrest. So I guess I'm a little anxious for spring to get here as well just like Fifi! :)

Momisodes said...

Oh how I share your sentiment for Spring. I'm over the bundling, shoveling and mess.
I loved these shots of your children braving the snow to play!

Halftime Lessons said...

Your fam is beautiful...

and thanks for reminding me what I DON'T miss about Pittsburgh and Cleveland...

Kellan said...

How cute! Yes - it looks like your little darlings are ready for spring, but they are pretty happy in the snow too. Cute story and darling pictures!

See you soon - Kellan

Roxane said...

As usual a fantastic post...I do love your way with words!

carrie said...

Bring out the spring toys! That's a great way to deal with all that snow...and all this winter. :(

I wish we lived closer, we could put a little schnapps in OUR cocoa and ride it out together.

Heather said...

I see you are a follower of Angie’s blog, Keep Believing. We have set up a way for friends and family to help from a distance. Please check out http://keepbelievingfund.blogspot.com/ if you’d like.

We just got our first snow - 6". We are not tired of it and want more. I'm sure I will be biting my tongue soon enough.

Scary Mommy said...

Winter was made for kids. And blog posts- this was an awesome one. :)

tracey.becker1@gmail.com said...

Well no wonder anyone understood how you were feeling down! Your kids are too cute!

You know how I feel. And YES. There ARE about 10 more weeks of winter for all of you non-Mid-Westerners: 4 in Feb, 4.5 in March, and 1 in April, give or take. On the day Evan was born, April 1st, it SNOWED. 2 weeks later, I took him and his big brother to the zoo in tank tops.

Ah, the Midwest...

Hugs, hon. We've crossed the middle of winter. We're nearing the finish line...

Val said...

Look at all that snow. I'm not sure I would go out in it. You are a great mom!

Kalle said...

I swear you just wrote about my three brothers and I growing up. Here in Saskatchewan, CANADA we too are patiently or not so patiently waiting for spring. The muddy snow and salt is endlessly dragged into our houses and onto porches. The salt hurts our puppy's feet so he jumps from snow drift to snow drift and has much more fun that way but then smells like a wet dog once at home. :(

Hang in there Spring must be coming soon. :) I love the pink boots.

Stephanie said...

I love how clever this post it! Those pictures are beautiful, even if they make me feel cold ;)

Lisa said...

Fifi with her umbrella is beyond priceless!!!

so done with winter too - stick a fork in me - I'm DONE!

Lynn C Mama to 3 said...

I liked your version of snow day better. Mine was more about muddy tracked in, melted snow on wood floors, hot chocolate spilled on tables and mommy with vodka after bedtime.

Anonymous said...

I really liked this post and those pictures were great.

Ali said...

winter is totally kicking my ass.
you are a WAY better mom than i am...

Michele said...

So sweet! Can you send some of the white fluffy stuff to Georgia! My girls really want to see some.

Melissa @ I Pick Pretty said...

You northern Yankee types are just made of tougher cloth than the rest of us. 10 more weeks of winter? With restless (if cuuute) kiddos? Shouldn't it be one or the other?

That last photo is wonderful, by the way; love the candid expression.

BlondeMomBlog (Jamie) said...

The snow is beautiful and I adore that umbrella picture especially but you're making me realize how damn lucky I am to live in the South! I don't do well with the cabin fever. You are a rock star mama for improvising.

p.s. so so sorry to read about your friend's battle with cancer....thank YOU for the comment on my mom's blog

Blessings From Above said...

This really is the the worst winter ever. It seems like it will never end! I've lived in Ohio my whole life, but never recall having the "winter blues" this bad before. I AM SO READY FOR SPRING!!!!!!!!!

Courtney said...

AMEN to that sista, like I have said we live an hour from Cleveland and this winter has been ridiculous!

Joy said...

I'm ready for spring too! I'm about to have my first winter baby and that kind of freaks me out a little!

Amy said...

Awesome pics! I don't dare tell you its 70 here now.

Ed (zoesdad) said...

I'm going on a groundhog hunt--I can't take 10 more weeks!

Tyne said...

You are a great mom! Wanna trade houses for a weekend? It was 70 and gorgeous here today!

Maggie May said...

oh!!! i have a Lola too :) who is almost 7. and i have two boys, Dakota and Ian!
and...we are organic family :)
i love your world and your blog!

Unknown said...

My kids would give their left big toe for just ONE day like this. That shot of Lola is just gorgeous and Fifi, well, she just looks like a movie star waiting for her scene!

And your little guy with the pink boots is too much.

What I am trying to say is that your kids are all darn cute!

Unknown said...

Two days ago I woke up in a sweat because my son had turned off the airconditioner during the night. That was in Trinidad. Today I was all bundled up chipping the ice off the driveway. Meh.

Now I await July. When I want to give you a great, big, hug.

AreWeThereYet? said...

I take it you found showtime on demand...like it?

Colleen - Mommy Always Wins said...

Oh, hon - I can completely sympathize! (and love that show, too!)

Except here it wasn't snow (that was SO last year) its been sub-zero temps! My poor kids have hardly gotten any time outside. What I wouldn't give for a day "warm enough" for them to play in the yard! (You know, 32F would be BALMY!)

Jaina said...

Sending you a little bit of sunshine I have from this morning. It's pouring rain now, but don't worry, I'll stock up on more sunshine by Sunday. :)

 

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