Snow Day Fun

I's been almost two straight weeks in the house for my kids. Last week they were home with fevers and this week we have been iced in since Monday night. I'm halfway thankful for the timing of the winter storm because it means the girls have had an extra week to fully recover without missing school. LH and TD are just about past the worst of it, but EG was still running a bit of a fever this afternoon. LH was able to go to school Monday and got her make-up work from the week before so she's been able to take her time all week doing it a little at a time. I think this may be the first time - ever - that she will have actually completed and turned in her make-up work on time (at least without being up until midnight crying about her misfortune and the unfair attitudes of her teachers.)

In spite of just having had a two week break for Christmas and New Year, I have been enjoying the break, myself, at least until the last 24 hours or so. I have been fighting the last stages of being sick, too, and this morning the FM flared up. I'll probably be dealing with it for the next few days, but since I have the luxury to rest when I want, I'm fairly certain I can get past it quickly. DH gets to work from home and neither of us has to get up early to shuffle the kids out the door. Staying up late and acting like a grown-up is so much more fun when you don't have to pay the price for it the next morning.

Tomorrow will make the fourth day in a row that school is canceled and, since it is a Friday, we're looking at the next three days at home. The cabin fever is starting to take its toll, finally. Thankfully, we've gone past bored and grouchy and we're approaching goofy and nuts. It can be hard to tell, but I believe they are even crazier than usual. Let me state some evidence:

Today, EG and TD both declared that they like Justin Beiber. This is a complete 180 turn from last week when TD was offended by the very mention of his name and EG was dressing up her Ken doll in princess dresses and calling him "Justin." LH however, has insisted that Taylor Lautner is the hottest thing EVAR and there was a heated debate this afternoon about WHY Jacob was even cooler than Shark Boy. While this is probably pretty expected for most 13 year old girls, mine are just not that into Teen Idols and Pop Sensations. For them to resort to arguing over the specific merits of the Rich and Famous definitely shows the walls have started the crumble in their Houses of Sanity.


This evening at dinner, the girls got tired of picking on each other and instead decided to discuss the individual names they have chosen for each separate body part - Steve the Stomach, Dave the Digestive System, Ralph the Respiratory System, Felix and Fitzpatrick the Feet. Eliza the Eyelashes, Bob the Beauteous Maximus, Ed the Elbow, Collin the Colon, Nicole the Nose, GnaGna the goatee (named after a friend from school), Ned the Knee...the list goes on and on. Why most of the names they chose were MALE, I'm still not sure. EG combated this statement by declaring her freckles were surely Female. Yeah, ok....

Instead of a blankie or other toy from babyhood, EG has a decorative couch pillow that she named "Loaf of Bread" because of its shape.  It is a long, round pillow, shaped like a cylinder, and the cover has been gone for quite a while so it is just plain and white (at least it USED to be white.) She snuggles it the way "normal" kids would snuggle a doll or a teddy bear. Last night she wrapped a hairband with a sparkly purple flower around one end of Loaf of Bread and declared that this was actually "Loaf of French Bread" Loaf of Bread's French cousin who was visiting for the week. Croissant, Loaf of French Bread's brother would be arriving some time later - he had a flight delay due to weather. This evening, EG comes in to say Good Night as usual, but tonight Loaf of Bread had a scrunchee with flowers and ladybugs wrapped around the top. This is now "Banana Nut Bread", Loaf of Bread's country cousin. The sheer sincerity of EG as she was telling me this is more than I would expect from any patient in a funny farm.

Finally, I think the cabin fever has affected LH's memory. Tonight the younger sisters were picking on her about the mood swings that, frankly, have been affecting ALL of us (as she likes to share these emotions with EVERYONE around her) and the girl had the audacity to look me right in the eye and claim innocence. "Really, have they been that bad? When was the last time I did something like that?"
SERIOUSLY!??! THIS from the same girl that came home from school on Monday and spent three hours yelling, screaming, talking to herself, and declaring that she hated life, the world, and everyone in it because THREE of her (eight) teachers had given her make-up work from the WEEK she had been out. (Oh! The humanity!)

I am not sure who is going to break first, me or the kids. If the weather doesn't clear up enough for us to get out of the house on Saturday, I might just see how far I can make it out of town with a pair of running shoes and a case of Red Bull. 

The only one around here who hasn't been suffering from the weather imposed house arrest has been DH. He gets to shut the door and focus on work and no one gets to bother him unless HE decides he wants to be bothered. When he isn't taking customer calls (and demanding silence from the house hold) he has all of his arts, crafts, and hobbies at his fingertips. He has finished three different projects and learned a new craft since Monday evening. Whatever he is sneaking to create this pleasant, cozy, bubble of sanity, I wish he would share with the rest of class.

I hope the rest of you out there are staying warm, and busy, and enjoying the winter storms in whatever way you can.