A Mother's Snow Day Lament

     The snow had been falling pretty steady for hours. There wasn't much accumulation but it was apparently enough to play havoc with the roads. Everyone went to bed with the thought of a possible two hour delay in the morning.
     The mother was awakened by a burst of light & a child's voice. "Mom, go back to sleep! It's a two hour delay!" The child then climbed into her mother's bed under the guise of some quality snuggle time. But it wasn't long until the chaos began. The cat pounced on the bed announcing to all that the water bowl was, in fact, empty. This caused the puppy to wake up, ready to play, chase and pounce. Which, in turn, caused the child to get up and go play with the puppy. Aah, at last the mother could go back to sleep, cuddling the older dog and relishing the last few moments of quiet before she had to drag herself from the bed.
     And then it happened. The child bounded back into the bedroom and said, "Mom! It's cancelled! It's a snow day!" The mother inwardly groaned and rolled her not yet open eyes. So much for my productive day she thought. Nothing will be accomplished today. She reluctantly forced herself from the warmth of her bed and trudged toward the kitchen. She flipped on the outside light and looked out at the still-falling snow. As she let the dogs out, she noticed that there was only about an inch or so of snow on the porch. Confused about the reasoning behind the school closing she made her way to the living room to wait on the dogs to come in.
     There sat her sweet husband, looking pitiful and sickly. Obviously, he wasn't feeling any better than he did the night before. She mentally reviewed all she had wanted to do today. She knew that it would not happen with everyone in the house. As she let the dogs in and dried their paws, the mother contemplated her day. The dogs were cold and so she went back to living room so the three of them could snuggle under the heavy Indian blanket. That was the last conscious thought she had. As she drifted off to sleep, thoughts of schoolbuses loaded with children on their way to brightly lit school buildings floated through her head. When the mother woke up, she looked around and saw no one. It was a dream! The day will be productive! The child is at school and the husband must be in the man cave. How wonderful! A smile spread over her face and she was now ready to finally start the day.
     The mother made her way through the quiet house. She noticed that her bedroom door was partially closed. She peeked in and saw her husband finally getting some rest. Next stop was the computer room. While she was checking email and facebook happenings, she heard the back door shut and boots stomping off the snow. Dread came over her. That had to be the child coming in from playing. It wasn't a dream after all. It really was a snow day. For the second time that day the mother groaned and rolled her eyes.