A Snowed-In Day

What a snowy day! Whew! Actually, I would love it if it weren’t for the treacherous roads. And the cold. And the snow pants. And I don’t like shoveling sidewalks. So, may-be saying that I would LOVE it is going a bit far, but I would mildy like it…

Homeschooling and sibling arguements…

We did some math and reading. Ds had a magnet worksheet to fill out for “big” school. Big school is what the kids call the homeschool program. Other than that they spent the day playing. Dd had a few freak-outs at her brother. He certainly knows how to push her buttons. Most people comment on how quite dd is – if they only knew! She has quite the temper. It’s frustrating to me because she gets mad at such minor things. For instance, they were both drawing on the white board. Ds decides to draw someone who (supposedly) looks scary. Dd starts getting riled up and told him to erase it, and he wouldn’t, of course. In the end, she’s completely bawling over what is actually a stick man with a sad face!! She got sent to her room to calm down. I’m really trying to stay out of their arguments now. No more rushing in and sorting it out for them. If they come to me I remind them that they could choose to share/cooperate/ignore/walk away, etc. and that it is THEIR job to figure it out. We’ve done plenty of role playing games and had many discussions on this matter so it’s time they start using the tools we’ve taught them….let’s hope it works.

An incident with the snow plow…

When the snow finally stopped I thought that I’d be a nice wife and plow the driveway before Adrian came home. (funny story about “plowing” the driveway for later) It was 4:30 and he comes home around 5:30 so, I had plenty of time. I get out there and everything is going well. I don’t actually mind the task, and I love the look of a freshly plowed driveway. So crisp and clean. I’m getting close to being finished when the damn thing gets stuck. How frustrating! I’m not even THAT stuck. I just went over a little too far on the right side of the driveway, but I could not get out. I went back and forth and tried high and low gear. After A LOT of swearing (I’m serious. I’m glad the noise of the tractor muffled my voice) I finally gave up and came inside. Adrian came home, hopped on the tractor and drove it straight out! Grrrrrr. He finished the driveway. Ah well. Can’t say that I didn’t try.

The funny story…

Okay – funny story. Adrian’s best friend is back in England and they talk frequently on the phone. During the first few winters after we moved here Adrian would say to his friend that he has to go plow the driveway or that he just finished. His friend never said anything to this. Then one year they came to visit in the summer, and we were showing him some of our photos. There was one of Adrian on the snow plow. His friend’s eyes widened, and he said “Ohhhhhhh! I could never figure out how you were “plowing” (as in a garden plow) your driveway and in the winter yet.” They, of course, would never have need for a snow plow. Man, I laughed. Actually, I laughed beyond the point that they thought it was funny. I think it’s hilarious when these discrepancies come up. We’re both speaking English but there are still so many differences. Adrian would be quick to point out that we speak American, but what does he know? The limey.