Bring on the snow!!!!

Actually, that's not true -- STOP THE SNOW!!!!!!! In the last week, we have gotten nearly 4 feet of snow, and we live in MARYLAND!!!!!! I grew up in New York; I went to school in New England and spent about 2.75 years living in Pittsburgh, PA. I have NEVER seen as much snow as we've gotten between last Friday and this past Wednesday. Schools were closed all week starting with an early dismissal on the previous Friday and a snow day for a small flurry the previous Wednesday. All of my kids will be going to school into JULY -- and that's before they start with ESY (Extended School Year).

We are going CRAZY here. I know -- it isn't a very long trip. As children on the spectrum, we need to have a routine. This week, that routine has gone out the window. It feels like we've spent almost the entire time inside with the television on (pulled out every movie I could find that was appropriate) reading the same books over and over again and solving the same puzzles over and over again. The saving grace of having the kids home all week was Kevin was also home for much of it as the federal government had shut down (except for essential on-site personnel). Even though he spent a fair amount of time shoveling or working from home, he was HERE to relieve me when the need was there.

We did make an attempt to go out into the snow and let the kids play outside. We'll just call it a small disaster. I bought "rain boots" for Daniel last week in preparation for this week (we knew what was coming and for a change the meteorologists got it right) -- I went to Target and they no longer had ANYTHING for winter-wear (but these boots were lined and the right size so I figured it was good enough). Well, the snow was so thick and packed easily that it pulled his boot right off of his foot. Then it did the same thing with the other one. We managed to uncover one of them. The other boot, well, perhaps we'll find it in time for his 5th birthday in April. But it made him really upset and he was really cold and couldn't wait to get inside.

Rachel lost it when I put her in her snow suit -- I managed to get her outside, but she just kind of stood by the door crying and not quite sure what to do. Now, I have to admit, I can't blame her. She's a 39" little girl and there was 29.5 inches of snow that had fallen within the previous 48 hours.

Simon had a good time -- he managed to fall in the snow and was so shocked and bewildered that he forgot to be upset about it all. That's really funny in most respects because he's the one that can't handle change and has more sensory issues when dealing with unfamiliar textures and experiences (the first time he was given PlayDoh, he nearly vomited at the mere touch of it only about 9 months ago).

And, to make it even crazier, we have a long weekend this week for President's Day but on Monday they are predicting more snow -- now this one shouldn't be much, but right now there's NO WHERE TO PUT THE SNOW -- at this moment, I truly believe that, if a single flake falls, the area will just shut down.

So, to paraphrase a nursery rhyme, "Snow Snow Go Away; Don't Come Back Another Day"!!!!!