Every Party Needs a Pooper

This morning I woke up early to go running.  Kedar turned to me and said groggily, "You know there's snow on the ground, right?"  I felt like giving Mother Nature a big raspberry.  I've just recently come to grips with fall and it's already acting like winter.  I felt unprepared.  Grudgingly, I drug myself out into the cold, dark morning.  My legs were heavy, my feet were wet, I longed for the warmth of my bed.
  
When I got home the kids were just waking up.  Seeing the white blanket of snow on the ground had a different effect on them.  Excitement flowed from them as freely as water from a faucet.  Focusing on getting ready for school was hard for the boys, there were too many snowy plans to make.  After I got the boys off to school Aubrey was insistent on getting her snow clothes on and heading out into the cold.  I wasn't quite brave enough to go out again so I bundled her up and sent her out into the backyard.  I watched through the window as she dove into the ankle deep snow.  She rolled, somersaulted and made snow angels.  Every few seconds she would stop to wave at me through the window, making sure I was still there.

Listening to the boys chatter enthusiastically about their plans for snow games during recess, and watching Aubrey tumble happily in the backyard made me recognize my own (for lack of a better word) party pooper-ness.  The unexpected can be hard for me.  Sometimes I see it as an inconvenient hiccup in my plans, where my kids look at it as an adventure.  I love that my children embrace the unexpected with excitement.