Do you remember snow days? I loved snow days when I was kid. I remember getting up early to listen for the school cancellations on the radio, having picnic lunches in blanket forts, and drinking hot chocolate with marshmallows.
If you live in the Northeastern United States and have young children, today is a snow day. The kids love it. Parents? Well let me tell you my story.
The snow is falling. The house is noisy. My husband’s on a conference call because, as he says, “It’s not snowing in California.” My 7 year old daughter is asking me to help her cut out the paper dolls she’s making.
And I gladly pick up the scissors and start cutting.
It wasn’t always like this. Last year, I cursed days like today. I fumed over the lost productivity and secretly resented my husband’s “commitment” to his job. I scolded myself for my lack thereof.
And those bad feelings lasted the rest of the week. Once my daughter was back in school, I struggled to get back to work. I spent too much energy thinking about all the time that I’d “wasted”. I couldn’t get my head back into the game, resulting in little or no work which only made me feel worse.
Needless to say, this approach to snow days didn’t help me. Unless I plan to move to Hawaii (a girl can dream), I had to change my attitude and quick.
Lucky for me, my word of the year is responsibility. This year is about taking responsibility for my actions and my mindset. Like I said last week, we have a choice, not only in what we choose to do, but how we choose to think.
As Seth Godin so elegantly put it, “the way we respond to the things that we can’t change can instantly transform our lives.”
Change the narrative in your head.
I can’t control #snowmageddon. Mother nature has plans that I can’t change. However, I can control 2 things: my attitude and my actions. (They’re the only things we have complete control over.)
I have committed to blogging every Tuesday and Thursday so I’m writing this post at the kitchen table with my daughter coloring beside me. She stops to give me frequent hugs.
There’s a big smile on my face because after I post this to my blog, we’re making hot chocolate with real marshmallows this afternoon. My daughter doesn’t know it, but we’ll be making blueberry muffins too. (Her favorite thing to bake.) When she grows up, her memories of snow days should be as happy as mine are.
“Happiness, for most of us, is a choice. Reality is not. It seems, though, that choosing to be happy ends up changing the reality that we keep track of.” – Seth Godin
My reality is looking pretty good today.
Let me know how you’re spending this snow day in the comments below. Stay safe and warm out there!