My Version of Emergency Preparedness

The warnings started coming late last week: brace yourselves for a winter storm of epic proportions.  And brace ourselves we did.  

We did our grocery shopping for the week on Saturday.   Now, there are few things I dislike more than grocery shopping at Super Target with the entire family on a Saturday.  I feel like those trips always result in a few more grey hairs and an extra $30 worth of crap in my cart.  But looking back, I'm so glad we went when we did.  I'd much rather fight with my kids over Goldfish crackers and fruit snacks than duke it out with another mom over the last carton of milk.  

Here's how I spent my Monday preparing for the Icepocalypse:

First, I sent the children to what I assumed could be the one and only day of school this week.  And promptly signed them up for aftercare.  Yes, I was going to squeeze every drop of school into that one day.  I dropped them off at 8:30 and didn't come back for them until 5.  

Second, I came home and enjoyed each and every moment of solitude and quiet.  I completely reorganized all of our toys, games and puzzles.  Out went the things they hadn't touched since before Christmas, in came new things.  

Third were the necessary errands.  A quick trip to Borders to use up my Borders Bucks and a coupon on a couple of activity books for Eli. (The kid is nuts for these Kumon cutting activities.  He's a whiz with the scissors now, a veritable Edward Scissorhands.)  Whole Foods for a few random things we forgot over the weekend, where not a soul was fighting over the organic milk, cage-free eggs or $5 loaves of artisinal bread. Starbucks was next.  It might be awhile before I see the inside of a Starbucks again, so better get my fix.  And finally, the most important of errands: the liquor store for wine, beer, and whiskey – the key ingredient in my new favorite winter drink: Katy's Hot Toddys.  

As I pulled into the garage on Monday evening, the first icy drops were falling.  Bring it, I thought.  We're ready.

All in all, it hasn't been that bad.  The power has stayed on, which was our biggest concern.  Mike stayed home from work yesterday and today, so I have backup.  The backyard is our own personal ice rink, so we broke out the sticks and pucks.  We let our standards slide and let the kids watch more TV and play more Wii than they're accustomed to.  I firmly believe that if that poor family in The Shining had access to Spongebob and Just Dance 2, the movie would have had a much happier ending.

As soon as someone starts to get cranky, I whip out the hot cocoa and marshmallows.  Or churros and chocolate.  Or the wine.  Whatever it takes to keep us from wandering the halls calling out "redrum!"