The Silver Lining

I am looking forward to winter because in the winter there a no mosquitoes to ravage my poor itchy ankles.

I told this to my children this afternoon.

I told them this one, because it is true and two, because I was trying to think of something positive to say.

The kids didn’t have school today because of all of the flooding. When my neighbor wanted to take my kids on a walk to McDonalds I nearly lost my mind. “IT ISN’T SAFE!” I yelled at everyone.

Of course my neighbor didn’t know that one of our local bloggers lost her son yesterday to the storm when he was swept away by the fast rising water in a creek. My kids didn’t know it either, but I ended up telling them when I was trying to explain why I was the meanest mom in the neighborhood.

I was trying to be positive as I was driving them to McDonalds in a fit of guilt for denying them everything and also ignoring them while finishing up a project for work this morning. I told them that I liked winter because there were no mosquitos to bite me.

laudia said she was looking forward to winter because of snow days and Christmas.

Ian said he was looking forward to hibernating.

I giggled instead of telling him that humans don’t hibernate, but it was been a long summer and hibernation kind of sounds wonderful.

But hibernation plans certainly explain his eating habits lately. And mine.

I need to be an optimist. At least an optimistic realist. If I sit around and worry about all of the bad things that could happen in life I will miss the living part. I’m still not going to let my kids walk around in dangerous conditions, but I suppose I could try to handle it more gracefully should the opportunity rise again.

The rain will go away eventually and so will the mosquitoes. For now, I will enjoy the fall (if it ever starts acting like fall instead of Armageddon) and the football that goes along with it.