The Funny Before the Flip Side

With love from our snow day hell to yours…

Lest you live in one of those more modern parts of the country where you have fancy things like power and heat, around these parts, as I write this, we are without such amenities.  I whined about the weather on Wednesday, yet things have since taken more of an Apocalypse-now turn.  Let’s just say it’s gotten rather cold and apparently, entertaining chidlren sans electronic devices or TV when you are stuck inside for days on end is a talent exclusive to pre-1950s housewives.  And I am off by more than a few decades.  Darn my lateness.

We find ourselves on the pre-flip side of this icy tundra and it is DESPERATE TIMES.  I could cry, but the tears might freeze to my face, which would make for an even uglier snottier scenario all around.  Not a good scene. 

But then I talked to my very pregnant-with-multiples friend.  She told me her husband is now flushing their toilet with clumps of snow, which is working nicely for the men in her family.  Less nicely for her.  It is quite a “chilly situation”.  I adore her and hearing this, I snorted so loudly, my soul was warmed.

And I realized something very important–maybe it was time to start looking for the funny in this whole mess.  You know, avoid those snotty frozen tears and such?

Because there is a decent amount of funny on this side of this flip…When we found out my husband’s grandfather died and then my children subsequently both developed volatile diarrhea on Day #2 of our outage?  I got a bit snappy, which made my husband irritably admonish, “I’d hate to see how you’d act if we were ever in a bad situation.” AM I MISSING SOMETHING?  DOES THIS NOT QUALIFY??

Speaking of Dr. J, when he reminded me that we have to be “judicious” about dirtying too many clothes because it may be days before we can do laundry again?  As if I would actually voluntarily take the time to change into a new outfit if I wasn’t leaving the house. Silly, silly man.

When he kindly suggested I grab a shower this morning before all the hot water totally ran out, this momma is no fool. I was onto the unspoken, “I smell, don’t I?”  He pleaded the fifth, “It’s just going to be really tough to bathe again before the power comes back on.” I have a vested interest in continuing our relationship, so I took one for the team and grabbed a shower.  And only whimpered a little when the cold air bit me on the way out.

(Also, for the record, I knew stocking up on my sea salt spray in bulk was a smart move.  Since there is no hope of hooking up with my wildly modern, electricity-powered flatiron for the foreseeable future, bring on those beachy waves curls.  You’re welcome, husband.  So glad I can still look gorg for you in the midst of our hell.)

When my foggy brain, so numbed by the cold and my ever-growing pile of impossible to-do lists, latched onto one prevailing thought, “My son’s Valentines” and refused to let go of it.  You see, he is to write 2-3/day as a preschool “homework”, and as a first time Momma, I’ll be darned if I’m screwing up the first homework assignment this family has ever had.  Fire up the oil lantern, babe, because we are having old-school family night working around the kitchen table.

When, speaking of old-school, I spent an entire 30 minutes looking around the entire family + dog piled into our bedroom with a space heater and wondered how Little House on the Prairie people ever managed to reproduce.  I mean, surely the baby boom that will hit late fall must belong to those who maintain electricity and separate sleeping quarters, right? Yet, when my husband told me he was going out to split wood, I’ll admit, I understand how the whole lumberjack appeal could encourage inventively working around certain rooming inconveniences…

When I rev up that generator because this blog post must be written.  As I punch out the words on my laptop, trying to warm my numb fingers by the fire and my kids cozy up with Mickey Mouse on the iPad, I take comfort in knowing that I clearly have my priorities straight.  Excellent.

You see, I don’t know when this situation is going to flip, but I do know that, despite my no-swear policy, I am walking around my house mantra-ing Kristen Wiig’s voice from Bridesmaids, “See you on the flipside, ___________”.  It’s kind of soothing and in-your-face-sucktastic-weather all in one shot.  Plus, there has to be a flipside, right?  Right??  As always, please just say yes.

xo from my tundra.

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Meredith

Meredith blogs at The Mom of the Year, where she dedicatedly earns her title one epic parenting fail at a time, offering quick, relatable laughs for fellow parents and all their empathizers. She has been part of several best-selling anthologies, featured on prominent sites such as Huffington Post, In the Powder Room and BlogHer, and loves her role as the Executive VP/Operations Manager of The BlogU Conference. When she's not breaking up fights over Legos and juice boxes, she remains fully committed to sharing a less serious look at the world of parenting.

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