The Stuff in the Space Between
On Being a Busy Adult With Many Important Things To Do

WHOOMP

As of this morning, Ike's snowpants still had the tags attached. Even though they are snowpants that I myself did not even buy, but were handed down unworn from my nephew several years ago, and were originally intended for Ezra. 

I'm happy to say those snowpants finally got put to some good, heavy-duty use.

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This was Ike's first "real" time out playing in "real" snow. As in, snow that's more than a heavy dusting, and not half-melted by the time we got our collective acts together to get out in it. I think he's napped though every other play-in-the-snow opportunity this winter. 

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This time, though. 15 inches! Enough to just open the front door and toss him into the nearest drift. 

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It's safe to say he's a fan. 

Ezra, on the other hand, originally spent less time out in the snow than I spent getting him dressed for the snow, once he realized that his dad had every intention of retaliating his snowball-throwing. NOT COOL, DAD.

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He stomped back in and stripped down in a huff, though I was able to tempt him back out with this jaunty little guy:

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Ezra selected his carrot nose and hat, and named him Olaf. Then he promptly went back inside because eff this mess, it's cold

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Noah was much more game for Jason's snowball fight, and then spent hours outside with neighborhood kids, exploring and climbing and digging and sledding and snow-surfing.

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He was a bright-pink frozen prunesicle by the time I was able to coax him inside with a nice hot bowl of macaroni & cheese. 

(RANDOM: My kids have all decided they hate hot chocolate, or even mildly-above-room-temperature chocolate. Weird weirdos or the weirdest weirdos? Discuss.) 

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And...well, that's about all I've got today. Besides electricity (!!!), plenty of wine and firewood and all of the bread and milk.

(We stocked up on groceries well before the snOMG! madness hit, although I did make Jason go back to the store last night for dishwasher detergent. [It's essential! My kids go through 700 plates and spoons a day! And they are all very sticky and I do not like hand washing any of it!] He came back three hours later, white as a sheet, but still doesn't want to talk about it.)

More snow on the way. Stay warm and safe and frolic-y, my friends. 

Comments

Christine

My son likes hot chocolate but only if it's cold. So really, Kid, you like Chocolate Milk? NO, MOM! HOT CHOCOLATE! (But maybe not very hot?)

Lynn

Wait, how did Noah go sledding?! We tried it but we...sank. Yes. The sled went maybe a foot and then it sank and snow caved in on our legs. Is there a sledding trick that I am unaware of? Clearly I am doing it wrong.

Bren

My girls don't like hot chocolate either! Not even when it is luke warm. Weirdos I say! It has been way too cold here to play in the snow. Today was supposed to be near 30, which is much better then the below zero temps we've had.

Rachel

OMG... I am headed your way (Arlington) on Monday, from ND... what should I pack? I have been checking weather.com & expecting low 50s for temps, but is that possible with 15 inches of snow this week? I don't want to pack what I would normally wear here, because it has been 20 degrees below 0 since December, and I think I'd overheat. I was looking forward to a heat wave of 50+ above with no snow...

Nicole

My girls quit hot cocoa as well; the good stuff from Trader Joes turned them off.

So, I have a cup for medicinal purposes when baby takes his nap.

Judy

Hot chocolate is the bomb with Kahlua in it! But I guess you don't want to serve that to your children.

When I was living in Oregon, my grandkids flew out to spend spring break, and were very excited to drive up to the timberline on Mt. Hood and see actual snow for the first time in their lives. We had the same situation with Daniel as you did with Ezra on the snowball fights...he was delighted to throw them, but stomped off to sit in the car when we threw back. And neither of them liked how cold it was. I admire Noah for sticking to it and enjoying the snow so much.

Laurie

My son liked hot chocolate from Starbucks for about five days. Then done.

Lindsay

My children are also haters of the hot chocolate. I've decided they must have switched my babies at the hospital.

Angela

Oh wow! The boys are so big. I've been a bad blogger/reader for so long and I realized I hadn't seen what Noah and you guys were up to in forever. My three also are not fans of the hot cocoa, UNLESS I go out and pick icicles for each of them to eat and use to stir their cocoa. Yeah. Ice cocoa. Weird. But it gives me an excuse to have hot cocoa if I can get them interested in it somehow, so Win!

Amalah

@Lynn The kids had success with sledding on the drifts/piles created from grown-ups shoveling out the sidewalks and cars, NOT the actual real fallen snow. Which was very fluffy and sinkhole-y. The house across the street from us made a HUGE fake "hill" from their double driveway and sidewalks and the kids had a blast sledding down that and seeing how far they could go down the slope-y lawn before sinking.

@Rachel LAYERS. The weather here is goddamn bonkers. It was in the mid-60s a couple weeks ago! And then we get a blizzard. It sucks but you'll probably want to pack outfits that consist of t-shirts/tanks and sweaters/blazers and layer up accordingly. And boots because DC sucks at snow removal and everything will still probably be a slushy mess on Monday.

Suzanne

Mine call it "cold chocolate" and insist on a mixture of about 50% k-cup hot cocoa and 50% straight milk. And it has to be COLD. I have tried explaining how pointless that is as a post-snow snack but they're children and therefore logic is wasted on them.

Nancy R

Based on photo number 3, next year for Halloween Ike should be Hermie the Elf/dentist.

Chelsea

My mother in law gave her three kids slippery nipples on snow days. I am not kidding.

Brigette

My chirrun also do not like the hot choklit. I think hot chocolate is in fact one of those urban childhood myths. ('Sok. Moar for me.)

Lisa Y

Mine like hot chocolate but none of them could be tempted anywhere by macaroni and cheese. They are the weirdest weirdos I know.

Ezra is just plain smart. I spent 18 years dealing with snow and cold in WI and promptly moved my cold-hating self to South Texas!

Lindsayc

My boys won't drink hot chocolate that is more than tepid & will ask for ice! You are not alone :-)

KImtoo

Mine will not only not drink the hot chocolate, one of them had refused to drink chocolate milk made with real chocolate syrup because it didn't taste right. Oy. Imma make me some hot chocolate right now.

Kaycee in Texas

I want some hot chocolate now.

Jill

Amalah, your turn of phrase is exquisite. Just snort/blew my coffee up my nose three times.

Ah, maybe hot choc is a European thing. Mine associate it with skiing and being supplied it by cute French waiters...or is that me? In our house you can only drink it from a spoon.

And lucky you getting snow, we've had months of constant rain which is, I hasten to add, not actually normal in the UK.

Jill

My kids also only drink chocolate milk and like Lisa Y's kids none of them will eat mac n cheese (homemade or instant).
I am jealous of your snowman. Despite having had 2+ feet of snow for months it has not been warm enough here to have snow that packs. My boys are limited to sledding and wandering around with a shovel and their thoughts. They would kill to build a snowman!

Brigid Keely

I'm a little jealous of your snow because, like so many others, we have like 2 feet of it but it's super dry and won't stick together and also it's dangerously cold out. My husband has literal frost bite from working outside. This winter has been nothing but one huge temptation to move south.

Stacy

I am right there with everyone that is jealous of your packing snow. It has been too cold here to much of anything fun outside. Jill, "wander with a shovel and their thoughts" cracked me up. It is so very true. I'm hoping maybe we have turned the corner. I see highs in the 30s next week, but also stupid rain. Oh well.

On the topic of hot chocolate, do you make sure to put a scoop of frozen cool whip or at least some marshmallows on it? If so and they still don't like it, then yes, weird.

Call Me Jo

The fact that so many people are reporting their children dislike hot chocolate is making me question my understanding of the universe. The cold, chocolate-less universe.

Tina C.

weirdest weirdos. mine like the hot chocolate and the mini-marshmellows. i use ovaltine - they don't know the diff! it's healthier right?

Rebecca

Our family is all in NoVa and my kids are DYING seeing pictures of all of the snow. We are horrible mean parents who moved our ungrateful children to Hawaii where it is snow-less. The grass is always greener...

Arnebya

The affection I have for your children is so special and NO, IT'S CREEPY. IT'S DOWNRIGHT CREEPY. But, I'm far enough away to where you "should be" safe. I shall one-up your weirdo kids' warm chocolate dislike with my girls' dislike for chocolate PERIOD. What in the absolute hell? While this is absolutely fine come Halloween and VD (which, in my head, I'm calling venereal disease rather than Valentine's Day) because we steal and eat their candy anyway, it's just...weird. Nary a Twix nor Kit Kat nor Hershey's Kiss NOT EVEN A REESE'S CUP shall be eaten by them. Nowhere near defense of that is the fact that I don't care for HOT chocolate. I mean, I'll drink it, damn, if that's really all you've got. For the record, I do not believe that's all you've got.

Noah out with the neighborhood kids makes me smile so damn hard.

As for Jason and the Harrowing Grocery Adventure that shall not be discussed, I sent my husband out for snacks and he came back with (GULP) generic Oreo-like cookies. The fuck are those, I asked calmly. Needless to say I had "real" Oreos that same night, even though when he returned from trip #2 there as a...change. He's been skittish-eyed everytime I sneakily approach him from behind.

Randi

Neither of my boys like hot chocolate either. Yesterday I made warm milk with cinnamon, vanilla, and a little sugar -- one of them liked that.

Genevieve

Ike's smile in the snow is amazing.
Yay Noah for loving all the sledding/snowsurfing/etc!
Ez is adorable per always even if he doesn't love the snow.

Meanwhile, you reminded me to go make some hot chocolate for my teen as a thank-you for shoveling the snow blocking our driveway where the plow didn't quite get there.

LD's Mom

The hot chocolate thing is funny. LD wants it all the time, especially now that we have a Keurig, but as soon as it's ready it's "okay, now add three, no, four ice cubes, please." Then he drinks two sips and forgets about it. I think he just wants the marshmallows...

Amy K

My four kids don't like hot chocolate either. They do like veggies and fruit. I think my kids are the weirdest. I gave them their choice of cereal in Costco and they pick Raisin Bran and Shredded Wheat. See....WEIRDOS! Have fun in the snow!

tifRN

my kids don't like HOT chocolate, either. unless i go all Ma Ingalls and make it with cocao on the stovetop. with hippie almond milk, because the powdered stuff that God intended has milk in it and Ella and I can't drink it without projectile vomiting. and they absolutely will not drink it without marshmallows. or flavored coffee syrup.

i've ruined them, i swear.

Barb

Your kids are way too cute. Noah has grown so quickly. It warms my heart that he's outside with the other kids.

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