Yesterday it started snowing in the morning. We were supposed to get 3-5 inches by late afternoon. We ended up with almost 8 inches! We live in middle Tennessee and it’s uncommon for us to get that much. Having moved here from Florida three years ago, my two kids are still enamored by the snow. I remember the first time they saw it. It was a couple days after we moved and just a light flurry, but they stood outside with huge smiles trying to catch snowflakes on their tongues.
The snow started before either of them woke up yesterday. So watching them look out the window to see how much snow had already accumulated was amusing. Their reactions were priceless. You could hear the surprise and excitement in their voices as they asked questions about when it started and when it was supposed to stop. A few hours later, it was still snowing and there was probably around 5-6 inches of snow, they both bundled up and headed out to explore our neighborhood. It’s not often that they do anything together on their own accord. I guess the magic of snow can bring people together, lol.
At the back of our neighborhood we have a creek and they ended up their looking around. They spent about 30 minutes outside together. We saw them coming back and tried to catch them to get a picture before they came inside. But they were freezing and wet and said absolutely not. Even without a photo I will still remember the site of them walking home together, cold but happy. We had the fire going to help them warm up and I noticed both of them lingered downstairs a little more than usual yesterday (ours are typical teenagers and spend a lot of time in their rooms these days). They told us about what they saw, how they felt, compared it to the snow we had last year. My son took several photos and shared them with us. He was really impressed by the beauty of the snow and commented that one of the photos looked like a puzzle that nana would put together.
They also loved seeing our dog outside in the snow. She had the zoomies and ran around the backyard having so much fun. The kids cracked up how high the snow was on her when she squatted to go to the bathroom. When she came inside they snuggled with her and warmed her up. Everyone was content and happy. Eventually they both went back upstairs and my husband and I binge watched the last half of a series we started recently. All in all it was a good day.
I don’t really have a point to this story. I just felt like writing today and sharing a little bit about our family. I guess the point really is that we don’t have to always be seeking connection to have it. Just like every experience doesn’t have to overtly seem educational to promote learning. It all just happens naturally when you live in a way that fosters it. This is what I love about respectful parenting and unschooling.
