A Moment Like This
December 17, 2007
Today I was sitting inside my toasty warm house. My oldest three children were outside snow blowing the driveway, cleaning off the cars, and shoveling the walk ways.
This moment alone was worth all those years of colic and sleepless nights.
For those of you in warm climates you will have to take solace in your sunshine filled days.
Posted by Chris @ 7:42 pm
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What is snow?
December 17th, 2007 at 7:58 pmyes, we love our sunny warm climate….but not a winter goes by that I don’t yearn for snow down here in lower Alabama!
December 17th, 2007 at 8:08 pmHmm.
I’m obviously doing something wrong.
I have 3 kids, 1 husband, yet, I never even get help bringing groceries in.
Chris says: You’d be surprised at how quickly they would help if you just left all the food in trunk. Eventually they would want to eat, right? So what if you have to drive around in a car stinking of 3 day old curdled milk.
December 17th, 2007 at 8:11 pmI can’t wait to teach my kids to cook all the meals. They are already quite good at mac-n-cheese, cold cereal, and hot dogs (in the microwave).
December 17th, 2007 at 8:22 pmtrust me, i do. 72 degrees should be a crime…it’s cold
December 17th, 2007 at 8:33 pmDo your children hire out? It’s only a couple thousand miles! I so enjoy your posts! Happy Holidays!
December 17th, 2007 at 9:08 pmI am totally looking forward to the days when my kids are big enough to help me around the house. My oldest, now 2, LOVES helping me, but her help is sometimes less than helpful. We’ll get there, I know, and probably faster than I would like to think about. : )
December 17th, 2007 at 9:19 pmMy 8 year old daughter shoveled the walk yesterday for the bargain price of $2. Well worth it!
December 17th, 2007 at 9:38 pmI’m feeling on top of the world because my 5yo now can turn off the bathtub water all by herself…it’s the little things…
December 17th, 2007 at 9:44 pmWe can’t count on snow or warm, sunny weather. Just rain. Oh, and sometimes it’s windy.
December 17th, 2007 at 10:00 pmAh! Only eight or so more years to go…my son will go out and shovel now, but that teeny tiny red shovel can only do so much, ‘ya know?
December 17th, 2007 at 10:19 pmIt’s payback time!
December 17th, 2007 at 10:44 pmMy daughter is 2. We are trying to teach her not to play in the yellow snow!!! (We have 2 dogs…not a house full of frat boys.) I can’t wait for the day when she can shovel the walk for me!
December 17th, 2007 at 11:03 pmtotally jealous. I was thinking about you today and I thought, you know seven kids, technically once you get to three, one of them has to be more help. It’s not like you have seven 3 year olds. Although sometimes it feels like I have seven three year olds. Can you please tell me when they will stop bouncing? In place? For hours? It ends? Right? RIGHT?!
December 17th, 2007 at 11:07 pmOh I hadn’t thought of that…the thought of my 3 boys digging us out of all this mess while the hubs and I hang out in the warm house, gives me odd peace at the moment. Heck, the thought of them doing any kind of work gives me peace!
December 17th, 2007 at 11:25 pmHi! I’m just chuckling to myself because I SO GET what you’re talking about. You have to savor the small moments, even if it’s just a half hours worth of peace and quite while the kids are outside. Your posts always make me smile, Chris, thanks!
December 17th, 2007 at 11:38 pmI would totally “spaz” (as my kids call it) just thinking of them with a snow blower. I could never watch.
December 17th, 2007 at 11:46 pmI admit I enjoy watching them shovel, they’re teenagers. I wonder if my parents watched me?
Oooh. Am excited for days like that. But it’s hard to believe they will truly ever come to be.
December 17th, 2007 at 11:57 pmIsn’t it wonderful??!
December 18th, 2007 at 12:33 amHowever better this cold with snow than this cold without I think.
My amazing four were more than eager to dig out a 60×40 section of snow in the backyard (yes the yard!) so that I could get to work on our skating rink ~ However when I mentioned I could not get to the car they all moaned..so I told them I needed to get to the HomeDepot for staples and a pipe attachment for said skating rink and **poof** sidewalk and drive way cleared!
If all else fails I can loan you our dogs…seems playing eskimo is worthy of being outside in this ( and yes also at 9pm ) Hey thats what we like about snow days!
I’m curious if shoveling is a job they do just because it needs to be done or do they get a particular reward? When I was a kid we all shoveled as a matter of course but I’ve found myself offering my kid a way to make extra $ with yard work around here.
December 18th, 2007 at 12:53 amMy 2 were out last night - no - Saturday night - shoveling. Of course they wouldn’t have done it if one of them didn’t have to get out early in the morning to go to work.
December 18th, 2007 at 1:32 amYes, it is great when you have a moment of feeling like “this makes all the hard stuff worthwhile!” I know that is a beautiful feeling!
December 18th, 2007 at 5:23 amAh, just like the large families in the old days - put ‘em to work! ;-D
Hmmm, I want to know when they stop bouncing up and down, too. Mine won’t even sit still for 10 minutes for even a favorite show or video that SHE requested!
December 18th, 2007 at 6:47 amKids blowing snow off the driveway all rugged up in warm clothes is so much more romantic than my two boys in their shorts and flip flops out in the sunny garden on doggy poop patrol … nah it’s just not romantic at all.
December 18th, 2007 at 7:02 amHmmm….I used to leave the kids inside and then I’d go outside and shovel snow for MY moments of peace and quiet….something seems to be not quite right…..
December 18th, 2007 at 8:50 amO bought Hubby a snowblower last year for his bday, he did the whole neighborhood this weekend. Men and their toys! Isn’t it beautiful though…looking out through the window!
December 18th, 2007 at 11:00 amOh, yes! My oldest is 5 1/2 and he LOVES to go out and “shovel” the sidewalks. It makes him feel like an adult, which he covets. He is small for his age, but he is starting to get really good at shoveling. YEAH! I’m hoping his behavior will rub off on his 4 yr old sister and 21 month old brother before he loses interest. Wishful thinking, but I’m hoping!
December 18th, 2007 at 11:11 amHey, I remember that feeling a few years ago when ALL my children, for the first time, got into the car and buckled themselves up! I could just walk to the car, open the door, and GET IN! I remember sitting in the drivers seat and thinking, “I’ve made it!” LOL
And Chris, you can have the snow. I can barely check the mail when it’s below 60. Brrr. These last few days have been cold enough in Alabama for me.
December 18th, 2007 at 11:20 amhe, he, he, here’s to a nice hot chocolate for you. Great pic!
December 18th, 2007 at 11:30 amI get all warm and fuzzy when I watch my ten and eleven year old shovel the snow, haul in the wood and take out the garbage.
Now if only I could get them to cook on a daily basis, wash the floors with out breaking the light fixtures, vacuum, do the laundry, clean the bathrooms and not forget to do the toilet and then provide me with a foot rub and a smile, my life would be perfect.
December 18th, 2007 at 11:51 amAt least, you know what your weather is going to be like. We are in the 50’s, today, tomorrow we will climb up to the 70’s and then by Sunday it might be in the 50’s again. Quite frankly, I think you Northerners need to stop hogging all the cold for yourself. Snow? You can keep that, but loosen the grip on the cold.
December 18th, 2007 at 12:10 pmThe key is to “Tom Sawyer” them - get them to think it is the greatest fun in the world to snowblow, shovel, clean cars, do housework….
Snow (Queen) Chris and the seven (well, three so far who are helpful) dwarves!
December 18th, 2007 at 12:54 pmBeing from SF and moving to NY for the love of my husband entitles me to never blow or shovel snow. As I remind my husband every winter, there is no snow in San Francisco.
December 18th, 2007 at 3:29 pm(As he reminds me we couldnt afford a house there either - but thats a different story)
Hooray for you for teaching the older kids to help out! My daughter has been dressing herself since 2, making her bed since age 5 - hey, who cares if she is wearing red stripes and pink plaid or if the bed is not quite exactly straight? The boys tidy their room and put their laundry away, and definitely shovel snow on occasion. I am looking for even more responsibilities to give them - does anyone have ideas for elementary age kids? Thanks!
December 19th, 2007 at 10:25 amI miss the snow, if nothing else, for the wonderful contrast it gives in Black and White photography.
December 20th, 2007 at 1:26 pmI remember when I was the kid shoveling… waaaay before snow blowers. I live in GA now. That’s one problem solved.
December 20th, 2007 at 5:07 pm