THREE DAYS at Home

We had a colossal snow (12”, which is huge for these parts!) on Friday.  I worked from home that day, and we spent the weekend snowbound, as well.  That’s THREE days I’ve been HOME with the family.

I’m just coming off a lot of holiday vacation, so a three-day stretch away from work isn’t a shock to my system.  It’s not leaving HOME those three days that I realized is such a new (old) experience.

I truly can’t remember the last time I was HOME for three days.  I know I spent a lot of homebound stretches when the girls were younger.  (And when they were infants, there were many stretches longer than that when I didn’t even leave the house to go to the mailbox!)  Surely this can’t be right, but my best guess is that it probably dates back to PRESCHOOL, maybe THREE YEARS AGO, when I last enjoyed such a treat.

Actually, back in the infant and toddler days, I’m not sure I would always have characterized three days at home a “treat”.  But it sure did feel like one these last few days.

Certainly it wasn’t a “vacation”…especially since Hubby hasn’t felt 100%, I’ve cooked and cleaned and done laundry and organized.  I’ve not had much “prop up” time…even after the girls have gone to bed, I’ve been tooling around most evenings.

But…

I enjoyed cooking a nice breakfast for the family every day.  I made creative lunches and yummy suppers.  AND I made homemade dessert a couple of times, too!

I PLAYED with my babies.  We snuggled and read and played games and built creations.

I WORKED with my babies.  By this, I mean that we did things in the house together…I involved them in the organizing, just the way I like to.  We weren’t rushed to clean up in 30 minutes.  We took an entire morning to organize the books in the house.  And another morning we made a giant color-coded list of all our toys, games, and art supplies (something for them to refer to when they seem to get in a rut).  And we went through their closet to pull all the too-small spring/summer things to get ready for an upcoming consignment sale.

I COOKED with my babies…a little bit, anyway.  The girls were ecstatic to peel eggs and help me stuff them.  They stirred guacamole, and watched me chop veggies for soup.  These last couple of years, that seems like a luxury.  So often I’m cramming in cooking amid five other things, such that I don’t take the time to involve the girls.  I miss that.

And of course we PLAYED in the snow!!!  There’s something completely exhilarating about donning our snow gear and setting out to tromp, stomp, run, jump, and wallow in all that white powder. 

Day 1 I took a few pictures here and there.  Day 2, we went sledding as a family, no camera in tow.  I would have loved to have recorded our antics, but we were all so in-the-moment.  Day 3 the girls and I had a lot of sledding fun…by that time the snow was beginning to pack a little more, and it was FAST!!!  We all played hard, and then I came in for the camera for the last 20 minutes or so.  It was a perfect balance for me of fun and picture-taking.

Judging by lamentations on the computer, there are a lot of folks who are ready for this snow event to be over.  Sure, I’m looking forward to a nice lunch out and a trip to the grocery to replenish a couple of things…but it wouldn’t hurt my feelings to have another day or two at home.

And this experience reminds me what a blessing it is to BE home for a few days.  I just might have to schedule that again soon.

***savoring the little things...for they really are the big things...***