When I saw the weather forecasts predicting SNOWMAGEDDON earlier this week I sighed. You see, where snow is concerned I am both a lover and a hater.
The child in me loves the snow. It brings back memories of snow days and hot chocolate, building snowmen and sledging in the park. Being the fully fledged southerner that I am, snow was rare in my native Bristol. To wake to even a light sprinkle of the white stuff would mean HUGE excitement.
Now though, I have to go to work. One of my sources of income is working on a breakfast radio show. This is fun. Massively so. But on snow days the fun is ever so slightly squeezed out by the stress of dealing with hundreds of school closures and the pressure to get it completely right. I’m a mum, so I know how important it is that other parents get the right information when they’re tuning in to see if their kid’s school is closed.
When you work as a presenter or a news reader, you don’t have the option to work from home if you’re snowed in. You have to make it in. End of. This often means a night in a hotel near the studios before a show, or getting up three hours early (1.30am) to dig your car out of the snow and push it out of a snowy carpark, before driving to work at 3 miles an hour. I’ve experienced both of these scenarios.
But, buried deep down, there’s a big snow lover in there. Mainly because of this:
Playing in the garden after a scary journey home that took more than three hours because of the snow. Seeing my husband safe through the door after his car came off the road in the snow. Watching my toddler experience the first snow she’ll remember, making snowballs and throwing them onto the roof with her dad to see them roll down and splat on the floor.
Making a snowwoman. A snowwoman my daughter has named Louise:
Sledging. Not on a fancy sledge (because we’re far too ill prepared to bother with one of those), but on a floral tray from Poundland:
I’m a snow lover AND a snow hater. What are you?
I love how pretty everythign instantly looks in snow, I love how you can trudge through it without getting dirty feet, because everything is white. I like making snowmen but I am not very good at it, and I like watching the children play in it, so yep i’m a snow lover.
The child in me suddenly realised today that if I had been in the countryside at my Mum’s with her massive garden (and had she had the same amount of snow that we had) I could have made the most enormous snowman EVER.
Firstly, your tray sledging video clip was fab! Secondly, I love the snow when it is fresh, white, thick and enough to keep me from work so we can go out and play in it. Now that it’s turning to a brown mush in the garden where the kiddies have tried to scrape up every last square inch of it? Not loving it so much! Back to work tomorrow for me. BUT it looks like more heading our way on Tuesday!! Oh, my daughter sat and listened to you desperately waiting for her school to be read out on Friday 😉
I’m SO with you on the state of the snow affecting whether it’s fun or not. And I love the thought of your little girl waiting to hear about school closures – hope I didn’t disappoint her! x
Exactly the same here: get all excited and tell the kids it’s snowing and then remember what a nightmare it is actually trying to get anything done in the snow – but then one of my most precious photos is of my big girl and her brother on a sledge together in Wales Christmas 2010 🙂
I love, love love it! Fab photo’s of Frog and her sledge is cool!
Luckily she didn’t realise she was the pauper of the village on her £1 tray!
Oh boy, I’m a LOVER!
I’m not surprised at all – you trampolining in the rain woman!
I am the same as you. We rely on being able to get out of the village and at the moment it isn’t easy, but we make the most of it the good and the bad,
I am exactly the same, I love it for about half an hour when we go out in it, and then I hate it the rest of time! x
When it goes all wet and sludgy – that’s the worst!
Definitely both! Depending on whether you can enjoy or have to get through. xx
I’m with you on that!
I LOVE the snow and am very jealous that we didn’t get as much as you have!! Not even enough to scrape a snowman together LOL here’s hoping we get some more 🙂 Kids are hoping for a school day off!
Bet they are! Still remember the excitement of a snow day!
Wow you guys certainly had a healthy helping… now that I’m a SAHM I like it, when I worked I hated it and the chaos it causes. My son is now at an age to enjoy snow and I love the joy in his eyes when he sees it falling from the sky.
Luv her lil wellies and snow suit!
Ah that’s so sweet, I can just imagine his excitement. Her wellies and snowsuit certainly helped today!