Thoughts on Hibernation …

RedDog just finished a unit in school on animals and their habitats.  Together we studied about physical adaptation, mimicry, instinct, species and other related animal topics.  Since I’m losing brain cells as my kids gain them, this was a good exercise to remind me of a lot of information I’d forgotten from Third grade {three years ago with Hannie B – sad}.

I had an epiphany while we reviewed animals that migrate and hibernate: I am a grumpy bear who missed her hibernation.

Let me first say that I am a four seasons kinda gal.  I live in a place that typically has a distinct Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall. I love each of the seasons for different reasons.  And I expect them to last for approximately three months each.

This year we had no Winter.  None. Nada. Zippo.  And I have decided that I’m simply not okay with it.  I bought Owlie a very cute – and incredibly warm – winter coat.  He never wore it.  I bought my husband some very expensive – and incredibly warm – snow boots.  There was never a driveway to shovel.  I had snow pants for each kid, including Big C. who has grown an entire foot since last year, all still sitting in a bin in the basement.

We barely drank hot chocolate.  We never had a fire in the fireplace. I didn’t make my favorite wintery comfort foods.  I didn’t get to stare out the windows in wonder as white blanketed my yard.  We did not use ONE SINGLE SNOW DAY.  That has not happened in the nine years we’ve lived here. I feel gipped.

Now it’s mid-March and instead of a gradual warm up into April, we’re dealing with full blown warmth.  Which means a pollen explosion and ants infesting weird places in my home, like the shower. Nothing makes me miss Winter more than showering with creepy, crawling things.

More than any of these reasons, I think I miss Winter because it is the time when we hibernate as a family.  There is less going on for my children.  We all want to stay snuggled up under our covers. We don’t  have to do yard work every week and we can be together more.  It’s a good time to store up our energy and slow down considerably.

I find myself feeling just a bit grumpy that baseball and yard work and pollen have been thrust upon me prematurely.  I am secretly harboring a hope that we will get one super freak snow storm just so I can have my kids home for an unexpected day of play in the white stuff.  I really want to see my baby with chubby snow pant legs.  I want to watch him eat snow.

Until then, I guess I’ll just have to go back in my blog history and look at pictures of our snow days from past years, and dream of a good hibernation next year.

How about you?  Did Winter skip over you this year?  And if so, did you miss it at all?

PS. I totally snuck in and got a shot of my boy napping.  Sleeping babies = angels.