"Don't get hit by the plow"

I've lost track of how many days I've been snowed in this winter. I love it! I enjoy not having to go into work and just to be able to do what I please. Also, I enjoy making home cooked meals all day and having my husband here while he works from home.

I remember growing up and not having any February vacation due to so many snow days. This winter has taken me back to those times.

I enjoy watching the media freak out and come up with names for this winter of '10-'11. When we were kids it was just more time to sled, build snow forts etc. The one bit of advice our parents in the neighborhood gave were: "Don't get hit by the plow as you're in the forts and don't throw snowballs at cars" Once we did throw snow balls at a passing car (from the safety of inside a snow fort of course). My winter jacket at the time was red and black. I hid face down in the snow when the driver got out of the car and proceeded to scream at us. She picked me up by my red and black hood and said "oh, I'm sorry, I thought you were a boy" (in reference to my red and black non-girl looking coat).

So it's okay to pick a boy up by his hood and scream at him but not a girl? The other day I had a conversation with my husband over Tennessee's BBQ (nomnomnom) in regards to yelling at the children of strangers. If two children are beating each other up in a grocery store and disturbing the patrons is it okay to scold them if they are not your kids? This happened to me around Christmas and in my best non-parent non-bitchy voice I said: "this is not a playground." I surprised myself how calm I was as I looked down at two boys tussling on the floor of the grocery store. To my surprise the Mom came storming over yelling "How DARE you." "I am their MOTHER." I just mumbled something about how they had been fighting all over the store. In the parking lot I overheard her telling her boys that I was a WITCH (Salem, anyone?). I responded by saying "Happy Holidays!"

My husband said he would have been horrified if he was there. I was kind, patient, and really quite nice to this insane mother of two. It could have been a shit show. I think I was in the holiday mood or something. I felt badly for those two little boys that had to go home with that woman.

That woman is the very same woman as the woman that picked me up by my hood out of the snow fort. Only it's another Century and I no longer throw snow balls at passing cars.