Fast and Furious Snow Day

I’ve lived in Chicago since 1989 and have yet to experience such a pileup of snow. In the early '90s there were some extreme cold days where we were cautioned not to walk from our home or job to our car without gloves, hats and scarves or we’d get frostbite. I was so scared every day from that. In the late '90s I remember there being enough snow accumulation to build a tunnel for our then-toddler to crawl through. This recent blizzard, “snowmaggedon,” and double snow day was definitely a first for me as well as so many others.

Let me share my snow day with you. I’m so glad I slept through most of it!

I was abruptly woken up when my husband needed me to help him get the window open. I half whispered and half yelled because a) I couldn’t imagine what he was doing and b) I didn’t want to wake the kids on this perfect and first snow day.

Little did I know, he had already woken my son, who like me, was angry until he got a taste of jumping in the snow.

It ended up being a MacGyver type project he concocted to get my dog out to do his  “business.” Basically, my son had to climb out the window and wait for my husband to hand/toss/catapult my dog into his arms. Next he handed my son a shovel and he made a path for the dog and made an area next to an, umm, larger window for my husband to get out of.

After I locked them out, I did what any good wife and mom would do, I got right back under the covers and slept a good long time.

This is where the story becomes a mutually beneficial one, as it was a good thing I slept. With me asleep, the kids would have an incredibly wild and dangerous snow day and I would know nothing about it!

Ever heard of skitching? It’s a combo of skiing and hitching a ride on a car. Sounds stupid, idiotic and dangerous, right? It didn’t matter a bit on Wednesday. With dog leashes hitched to my truck, my kids, their friends and many neighboring kids in tow, got on their sleds and held the dog leashes for dear life. My husband drove the truck all over the icy and snowy neighborhood streets and the kids only begged for more.

Of course, while sleeping in my cozy bed, I knew about NONE of this. Had I known, a fast and furious kibosh would have stopped this fast and furious event from occurring. 

Luckily, no one was hurt. These kids and the dads who participated loved every second of this daredevil day in the snow. The excitement, screams, smiles and laughter was all captured on film and that is the only reason I can write about this without ripping anyone’s head off.

This is a memory that these kids will hold forever and tell their kids about when we get the next Buffalo Grove blizzard, which hopefully won’t happen for a very, very long time.

As always, email me with any news, topics or ideas that you want to read about. Remember, I’d like to be the first to know! I can be reached at laurenbgpatch@aol.com.