No wind. No rain. No winter storm can stop us, baby!
And January brought all of it.
Fallen trees. Power outage. A little water in the basement. A desperate scramble to preserve frozen food and find somewhere warm to sleep. 2 hour delays. Daycare closures. A snowblower that wouldn’t start. Stressed parents. Restless kids. Rotating sicknesses. Interrupted schedules. Grumpy moods.
As I come out on the other side of the recent series of storms, I hope my forecast app shows brighter and dryer days ahead. But sNow worries!
The inclement weather actually brought some of the best experiences of the month.
Because without the storms, I might not have experienced the beautiful example of generosity and dependability of my neighbors, who sprung to action first offering freezers and electricity, and then a week later offering snowblowers and sledding hills.
We wouldn’t have gotten the impromptu Wednesday sleepover party at the Reids’ house if we didn’t need to seek refuge. The kids would have missed out on waking up with their friend Maddie on her 3rd birthday. And Jordan and I wouldn’t have gotten to share late night wine and laughs with some of our best friends on a school night like we were back at Penn State.
I wouldn’t have gotten to see a bunch of toddlers gathering at the window, fascinated by the first snow fall of the season.
I wouldn’t have been able to teach Charlie and Jack how to shovel the driveway- both a fun activity, an important lesson, and an investment in Dad’s convenience when it snows in the future.
We wouldn’t have gotten to drink hot chocolate and snuggle up to watch the Parent Trap on a Friday. We might not have gotten to dance around to “Ain’t no Mountain High Enough” in our pjs as the snow fell outside.
And we wouldn’t have gone sledding…the highlight of 2024. So I wouldn’t have gotten to hear all the giggles and the hopeful requests of, “Cmon Dad, one more time!” as they slid down and climbed back up the hill with their friends and cousins again and again. We wouldn’t have gotten to see Charlie and Jack experience that growth from cautious to confident that you get when you try a new activity.
I probably could have done without this stunt with my brother-in-law, Mikey, though:
Actually, no, I’ll take a little back pain for that lasting memory!
I guess the point is, bring on the storms! I don’t look forward to them, but I’ll try my best to acknowledge that they’re coming whether I like it or not. And I have a choice to be grumpy and anxious and negative as I wait for the storm to pass (sorry about my mood, Jordo), or I can learn how to dance in the rain/play in the snow.
Because these storms bring some of the most important experiences- and some important people might be waiting on your response.
The Janiec Reflection 