Snow.

In the days leading up to last weekend’s snowstorm, I couldn’t escape the news about it. Comments about snow littered my Facebook feed and every time I turned on the TV, the storm was being discussed. Newscasters predicted an epic snowstorm with unprecedented snowfall and potential damage.

With each passing day, my anxiety multiplied. I worried about uncontrollable events, like losing power. I knew that my plans to attend a party over the weekend were in jeopardy given the predicted weather. I wondered how I would entertain my two-year old daughter all weekend if we were snowed in.

The snow came, and as predicted, it was epic. I don’t know the exact amount, but we woke up to at least two feet of snow on Sunday morning. Our town was paralyzed. Two full days after the storm, the schools declared a snow day, and train service into the city was still suspended.

I have always struggled with being stuck at home; it doesn’t take long for me to go stir-crazy. But this past weekend reminded me that being snowbound is not always a bad thing.

My daughter spent hours in the snow during and after the storm: building snowmen, playing in the snow and sledding with her neighborhood friends. She climbed up the big hill of snow at the end of our block and slid down on her butt, over and over again.

My neighbors and I played in the snow alongside our children. We climbed up the hill and slid down, laughing, with our children on our laps. When my own teeth were chattering, my daughter was busy making snowballs. I had to beg her to come into the house to warm up. She did not tire of the snow.

When we were stuck inside, during the worst part of the storm, she happily played with her toys and drew princesses on construction on paper. Our family ate every meal together and I went to bed early. The house was a mess, of course. Wet socks and damp mittens littered the floor in front of the radiators, but eventually everything dried and was put away. I wore sweats all day long. We lit the fireplace; our living room walls glowed orange from the flames.

In retrospect, the snowstorm was…. fine. It was messy and annoying and ruined my plans, but it was also a lot of fun. When I think about last weekend, I remember how excited my daughter was to play with the forgotten toys . I laugh when I think about how time-consuming it was to get her into her snowsuit.

My heart swells when I remember how my daughter lifted her face up to the sky and let the snowflakes fall into her face and into her mouth. “I’m catching snowflakes!” she excitedly told me. Sometimes, that’s all you can do when you are stuck in a snowstorm: try to find magic and joy.