My kids are home from school today because it snowed.

Here in Kentucky it doesnā€™t require much snow fall to cancel school. They have cancelled schoolĀ in the past when snow was predicted, before a single flake fell. Iā€™m not complaining.Ā  Iā€™d rather not have to get out in the mess if I donā€™t have to, but my New York friends like to make fun of how much of a pansy Kentuckians are in regard to snowfall.Ā  I’m alright with that too.

I have a 13 year old in middle school and a 14 year old in high school. This morning they woke up to the news that school had been cancelled, but for the first timeĀ since they were able to walkĀ upright, they didnā€™t immediately run to the front door, sling it wide open and begin incessantly asking when they could go play in the snow.

Today’s no school snow day was strangely different.

In fact, they both slept until 10am then whenĀ they wokeĀ just asked me casually about what was for breakfast.

Thatā€™s it.

The only exciting thing that happened this morningĀ wasĀ when my son told me I had ā€œanother momentā€ in my sleep. He said he came to my bedroom lateĀ last night to tell me that school had been cancelled. When he nudged me awake he said I came up swinging my fists at him while yelling for help. I calledĀ bullshit until my husband confirmed that it did indeed happen. I have absolutely zero memory of any of it. My son said he just decided to let me find out on my own about the school thing and left my room quickly before he got punched. Iā€™m so glad I didnā€™t actually land any of those punches that I allegedly threw and also relieved to see that he thought it was hilarious as he told me about it.

(For some further background on my bizarreness when I sleep take a look back at a blog from several months ago titled Freak in the Sheets at https://www.amandawaggener.net/freak-in-the-sheets/. Be thankful you donā€™t have to share a bed with me. Mad props to my husband who has survived doing so for many years.)

So, aside from the near assault on my child, it was a quiet morning.

Me: ā€œYou want to go play in the snow today?ā€
My daughter: (laughter)

We had breakfast, tidied up the house a bit, hung out in our pajamas for the better part of the day and made plans on how we were goingĀ to spend our snow dayā€¦..which did not include playing in the snow.

How did this happen?

ITā€™S A NO SCHOOL SNOW DAY!!! Why are my kids too big to want to play in the snow?

I retreated to my bedroom and looked at Facebook. It was full of pictures my friends had posted of their littles in the snow. Pity party ensued. It made me feel sad.Ā  Last year my kids acted like kids, but somehow there was a transformation and this year they are acting like teenagers!

They are growing up. I wonā€™t get to take cute pics of them bundled up so tightly that they can barely move their arms while they throw snow balls at each other. I wonā€™t get to clean up puddles of water off the floor all day long while begging them to please put all their wet snow gear in the laundry room. I wonā€™t get to make them hot chocolate and watch them snuggle up together on the couch under blankets, watching cartoons while they warm up. Their pink little cheeks that are so cold they hurt and the frozen snot on their top lips is a thing of the past it appears.

They grew up some more on this snow day.

Itā€™s another first.

I decided to go to my bedroom, get under a blanket and write. In the peace and quiet. And that’s when it hit me that this ainā€™t so bad.

I wasted a good chunk of my day grieving the loss of one of the chapters of their childhood ending instead of enjoying the perksĀ and being excited about what this new chapter has to offer.

There will be a day soon enough when a no school snow day wonā€™t mean anything to me because they will be grown and out of my house. Iā€™ll look back at these new teen years that we have just started and miss them. Iā€™ll miss how they woke up every morningĀ in my house and needed me to help them getĀ their breakfast. Iā€™ll miss how they stayed inside with me all day driving me crazy with their loud music and way-too-long showers. I’ll miss not knowing all the details and being right in the middle of what is happening in their lives.Ā  Iā€™ll miss how we spent these days working on the upcoming science fair project that’s due soon. Iā€™ll actually miss all this hustle bustle business that creates so much energy and makes the house feel so alive.

I donā€™t want to be so sad and focused onĀ what has passed that I miss out on what is here in front of me right now.

Itā€™s actually pretty great that I donā€™t have to go outside and freeze myĀ butt off, then wonder if my fingers may actually be frost bit from giving one of them my gloves because theirs got wet.

This teenage chapter of life is pretty awesome, at least on snow days, at least in regard to my body temperature.
Maybe, but please remind me of this during my next breakdown. As they age, so do I. They say the first thing to go is the mindā€¦..and maybe a nose if you wake me up at the wrong moment while Iā€™m sleeping.

Iā€™m easily annoyed.

Itā€™s the truth. I have more annoyances now than when I was younger. I think lots of it has to do with the older I get, the more people I know.Ā Ā I have social media. Before having itĀ I didnā€™t really know much,Ā outside of my circle of good friends, about who was getting married, getting divorced, what they were eating for lunch, who they endorsed for president, their stance on gun control or that they enjoy placing their kids on railroad tracks to add a splash of danger to their family portraits.Ā  I only knew the details of people of whom I had a close personal relationship.

I didnā€™t know as much about the people I didnā€™t know as much about and that ignorance was often blissful.

Before I go on, I promise that this is not a blog post bashing social media or one that will develop intoĀ new yearā€™s resolutions of using it less in the coming year.

I think thatā€™s been done before.

Actually, I had decided not to have any resolutions this year at all because they always seem to fade away by March at best.

Who knows what will happen between today and January 1, 2017.

Iā€™ve decided Iā€™m more of a New Monthā€™s Resolution kind of gal.

I can totally do most any goal for 30 days.

Like in 2015, I was a vegan mid-October through mid-November. It was some ofĀ the worst days of my life. I like cheese too much.Ā  And I like not feeling hungry too much.Ā  Also,Ā you know what is vegan and completely legal to eat while on a vegan diet? Carbs. I was the worldā€™s 1st chubby vegan. But I did it for a month.

I also did a 30 day squat challenge this past summer. No way am I doing an ungodly number of squats for 365 days. It wouldnā€™t happen. In the short term, however, I can persevere for the sake of my own ego and to have tight buns for the few weeks when is really matters, which is June and July when I spend peak amount of time at the pool.

Since I have a better success rate with shorter term goals, Iā€™ve decided to take 2016 and divide it up into 12 equal parts.

I went ahead and assigned my goals for the first 3 months. At first, I was trying to assign goals to all 12 months, but letā€™s be real, Iā€™m far too non-committal for that and it would end in failure. Why try something if there is a good chance you can fail? Thatā€™s my motto. It also may be why Iā€™m not hugely successful at anything. But I digress.

So in the words of my accounting friend, who happens to be the only accounting friend I have, ā€œLetā€™s review this again next quarter.ā€

As I said, I did think about and manage to set new month resolutions for the 1st quarter of 2016.

They are as follows:

January 2016. Iā€™m going to focus on trying to be happy for people. Iā€™m going to try and have faith in them.

January will be a long month.

When I hear about lifting weights from the person who has never given a crap about being in the gym until now, I will make a concerted effort to encourage them instead of taking bets on how long they will stay on course. Iā€™m going to like Facebook updates about 5k races, dead lifts and CrossFit. Iā€™m going to encourage them to keep at it. I hope this makes me less annoyed by all the talk that comes like clockwork this time every year.

Iā€™m going to try and focus on being happy about seeing people giving it a shot. Win or lose. There is something to be said for trying.

February 2016. I am going to spend this month doing everything I can to keep myself from getting in that end of winter funk.

Every February, I get so sick of myself that I canā€™t even. All the retail stores are featuring their new spring lines and Iā€™m over here with legs that havenā€™t been shaved in a week and a slouchy sweatshirt that I also slept in the night before.

Iā€™m going to use this February to focus on not getting to that point. Iā€™m going to take walks when the sun is out, even if itā€™s bitter cold. Iā€™m going to think positive thoughts. Guys, Iā€™m going to commit to shaving my legs every day this month. Every day. Pray for me. Hold me accountable, but donā€™t do it by feeling of my legs because thatā€™s a little weird.

March 2016. Iā€™m going to take lent seriously for the first time ever.

I just checked the calendar and it says lent begins February 10th and ends March 24th this year. Maybe Iā€™m not taking it seriously enough by starting on March 1st instead of February 10th, but these are my resolutions, not yours so donā€™t judge.

This year I want to take the season of lent and use it as a time of genuine reflection. I donā€™t want to give up something that I can take or leave. I want to sacrifice something that means something so that it will be on my mind this whole month. I want it to be a constant reminder that I need to pray more. I want it to remind me I need to serve others more. I hope it reminds me that I need to be more like the example that Jesus set for me.

I want to use the month of March to get in the mindset of how miraculous Easter really is. Itā€™s amazing how much historical proof has been documented to confirm the validity of what the scripture says happened in the Easter story. I so wish reality television was a thing then.Ā Ā The Easter story would for sure have won an Emmy.

I want to use this March to soak up the enormity of what I get the privilege of celebrating and being a part of. I donā€™t want the amazement of it to miss me this year.

So thatā€™s what Iā€™m ready to commit to at this point. Iā€™ll worry about next quarterā€™s goals next quarter.

As for now. Itā€™s January 1, 2016!!! Happy New Year!!

Iā€™m so excited to see what happens this year. I have an itch in my bones that tells me itā€™s going to be a good one.

As for the rest of you, go to the gym and wait your turn in line for the treadmill.

Iā€™ll be behind you cheering.