With a Cherry on Top

I never thought I'd be that mom who wants to push her kids out the door and onto the school bus. I didn't get the parents who couldn't wait for summer break to be over and the kids would be out of their hair. Well, along came "Snowmaggedon 2010" and everything changed. After an entire week of school being canceled and coughs and fevers preventing them from doing much, I can't WAIT for life to get back to the old routine and the kids to get back to school.

I love them to pieces, but every hour I have to reassure them the Valentine's Day party will be rescheduled. I have to convince them the 100th day of school celebration will be pushed back. I need to remove Elliot's hair from Beckett's balled up little fist. There isn't enough coffee to energize me at this point.

A couple of nights ago we were all on the edge. Television wasn't entertaining anymore, coloring had gotten boring and nobody had the attention span to listen to another story. I remembered seeing a post on Facebook about ice cream made from snow and knew that would get my little ones smiling again. I sent the hubby to Cogos with a few dollars for half and half and the kids and I took out all the other stuff we would need.

The whining stopped. The crabbiness was replaced by giddiness and we all had fun mixing and making the ice cream as a family. They all got to help and then they all got to eat it up. We even swirled some caramel on it, and, after much begging from Elliot, put a little cherry on top!

I guess in some ways that is what parenting is all about. Our kids, even the sweetest of them, can really push us to the limits of our sanity sometimes. It is in those moments we need to step back, reflect and just HAVE FUN! We need to celebrate the wonder of ice cream made from snow rather than just trying quiet the masses, we need to marvel at the magic of steady flurries falling from the sky rather than curse the covered sidewalk, and we need to celebrate that sometimes the best thing at the end of a long day is just that cherry on top!


SNOW ICE CREAM, VANILLA

MIX:
1 tbsp. vanilla 3/4 c. sugar 1/8 tsp. salt 2 c. half & half, or more
ADD:
Snow, 2 cups at a time. Make sure you get CLEAN snow. Add enough snow to get a thick ice cream but make sure you keep tasting it so it tastes good. Too much snow and you'll lose the flavor. Eat right away.