Snow Day

Another "snow" day today.  I believe this is the 10th or 11th weather-related cancellation this school year, many of which lacked substantive snow.  Last night was a decent 4 inches or so, and merited the cancellation, and yet these days always manage to careen me off my course, even when I have at least a few hours' knowledge of the impending disruption to Routine and Schedule.

Apparently, these days careen my children off course, too, hence the reason I've officially dubbed these the Lord of the Flies Days.

I suppose I should clarify a few things from the very start:
1. No blood was shed, nothing was hunted, and despite the current appearance of the house, no wild sows were spotted streaking through the family room.
2.  I have a certain propensity toward deliciously dark tales: Lord of the Flies; most of Ray Bradbury's stories (especially The Veldt); and Poe's Telltale Heart are among my favorites...
3.... thus, keeping in mind my love of dark literature, this metaphor can only be carried so far.

But still.  It felt like Lord of the Flies around here, especially the part about abandoning responsibility, big kids teaming up against little kids, stoking the "fire" of annoying and button-punching behavior, and a  keen obsession with seeing just what decibel this house is able to handle, as well as a tacit competition to see how quickly one might get on another's nerves.... all of which led, predictably, to the part about Lack of Adult Supervision.

Because eventually, I give up.  Worn down, exhausted, out of patience, frazzled and frayed and fully unrecognizable, actually, for a few hours: those ugly hours, the witching hours, the arsenic hours - when you don't know whether to give it or take it. 

So the part that gets me every time?  is that in the book, the officer shows up to rescue the kids.  Ralph and the others are filled with remorse, horror, and utter shock at what they have done.  They sob their relief at being safe and cared for; they sob the cries of boys who desperately want forgiveness....

(to be continued....)