Our winters are short in Tennessee, but the small amount of harsh weather that we get causes everything to shut down. Readers from colder areas probably think it’s ridiculous when the Southeastern United States closes schools and businesses for an inch of snow, and we used to think that, too. But it makes sense when you realize that cities and towns have very few snow plows and salt trucks. In fact, some of the less traveled roads are never plowed or salted.
Ice storms are infrequent in the North. But here, with our temperatures going well above freezing on most winter days, rain can turn into sleet and eventually ice when temperatures drop overnight, causing treacherous road conditions. Then it all gets covered in a thin layer of snow, and you can imagine what happens.
With multiple rounds of icing and sleeting over the past three days, we have spent a lot of time indoors, only venturing out when the temperatures go above freezing. Schools have been closed for three days, and Mr. Handsome’s office has had late starts. It actually isn’t anywhere near as bad as the winter storm two years ago that prevented us from leaving our driveway for six days. We kept getting hammered with ice and snow, and the temperatures stayed in the 20s for a week.
To keep our kids from going stir crazy, we have been painting, doing sticker books, and pretending to howl like wolves. Here is a picture that Little Buddy painted yesterday called “The Cow.”
Is anyone else having a snowy/icy week? What have you been doing to fill your time?
We don’t have snow or ice this week, but it’s supposed to get to -11 tonight. Typical for a Wisconsin winter though. We go outside in all weather, the animals need food no matter how cold it is. They don’t seem to mind, except for one goat who gets really cold. The dogs love the cold and snow, they are nuts!
You might want to look into installing a whole-house generator someday. They’re not that expensive, especially if you already have a natural gas line at your house. They really are peace of mind when the weather gets like you describe. We have a Generac large enough to keep the heat or the a/c on, and the water heater and fridges going. As long as you do the required maintenance, weekly and annually, they are great. The add to the resale value of your house, too.
Flashbacks of your husband’s cow face paintings. Think I like your son’s better. Definitely see a cow head there, horns and all.
I love your children’s creativity. Those hand drawn gifts are the best. I live in southwest Ga, and we’re running the ac now. Last week, we had 2 cold days then ac the rest of the week. I’ve never driven in snow. Wouldn’t know how. It’s been several yrs since we’ve had snow flurries.
Little Picasso must be in his Blue Period.
When we have snow days, I like to fill my time with reading, (currently reading Bonhoeffer by Eric Metaxas. Or I will do crocheting and I’m right now making crochet Valentine coasters.
Greetings,
I like your snow day post. As far as closings and delays, I always say it’s better to be safe than sorry. I worked with a pastor who refused to call anything off. One treacherous icy day, he refused to even call off or reschedule a pastors’ luncheon. As he drove to the restaurant, on ice, he noticed emergency vehicles. He couldn’t see, but he assumed there was a car in the ditch. At the restaurant, he was the only one who was ridiculous enough to show up. The rest wisely opted for safety. While he sat there, he got a call from his wife. Her’s was the car in the ditch, on her way to the luncheon. She was unharmed but the car wasn’t so lucky. There should be a lesson there, but he continued to brag about never calling off an event because of weather. I obviously can’t use his name. Let’s just say that I call him Pastor Irresponsible.
I love Little Buddy’s painting. It’s a great portrait of a “black angus” cow. Maybe he is going to be an artist like his daddy.
As an ex-teacher I loved snow days, a surprise and welcome vacation day. On snow days, my kids loved to have me build “forts” for them. I would put up 1 or 2 card tables, and cover them with blankets, draped to the floor. Armed with flashlights, they could read, color, have a tea party in their fort, safe from the weather.
Stay warm and safe. Barb
There is no such thing as bad weather, there is such a thing as inappropriate clothing. Kids can go outside in any weather.
Ashleigh, it sounds like you’ve never lived anywhere where frostbite is a real concern. You don’t send your kids out in weather like that, no matter how bundled up they are. Their faces would still be exposed. Freezing rain can saturate even the thickest clothing. Cold air can cause asthmatic attacks in some people. Ice can cause slips, falls, sprains, and broken bones. There’s no need to put any child in situations like those.
Anonymous, you do realize that frostnip to the face is extremely uncommon because the face is most resilient to this? You do realize Eskimo children go outside to play in the middle of the winter? Kids can go out in nearly every type of weather, though give their night-weight ratio I would not at this point recommend them going out in gale force winds. You need to get out of the American helicopter style parenting and send the kids out. Monitor them, but let them experience cold. They will easily get used to it
Ashleigh, I have seen kids with frostbitten cheeks, burning red, and frostbitten noses and ear tips that were red and white. Calling someone a helicopter if they’re trying to prevent that is wrong. Kids can and do get hurt in cold weather. They forget to cover up, lose mittens, lose hats, have pants legs ride up exposing calves, etc. It’s not something they “get used to.” Signed, Front desk at a pediatrician’s office for years
We have had a bitter cold week in Wisconsin, last night and this morning was below 35, We had about 4 inches of snow sometime last week too, our snowbanks are getting pretty high.
Looks like a cow to me!! 🙂
Usually if we get a snow or icy day. Went I see it’s going to get bad the day before3 I charge my phone, tablet,portable tv, and power banks. So I least have something to watch on tv.
We weren’t aloud to paint at that age tell we were older. Kids can’t get paint everywere. I’m glad my parents taught us well..