AM~Erica Copes with Being Cooped Up

So anyway...

*WARNING: written under duress of cabin fever*

I am sitting here, enjoying my coffee in the quiet moments of my children still sleeping & hubby gone to work...

We are on day #3 of consecutive snow days due to the weather of a crazy snow storm & frigid temps.

I'm glad the kids were kept home for their safety...and, yet...it can be a bit much after a while.

I have seen, just this season, that those in the mid-Missouri regions, for sure, have had so many snow days, it's crazy! The winter has been brutal this time around! BRUTAL!

While I sit here...I reflect on my children...

I love them. I really do. I want to make that point very clear. Because you may doubt me as I keep going...but it's said out of love...and probably some insanity...

With 3 kiddos at home...and being cooped in together...it can be overwhelming.

Don't forget: 2 out of 3 kids, in our household, are teenagers.
Some of you know what that can be like, especially with cabin fever setting in.

However, this can be tricky when you can have parent-hating teenagers actually interact with you when they DON'T need something! Amm-i-rite?

Thankfully, my hubby has been home with us, the last couple of days, so I haven't been quite as overwhelmed...and I'm super excited that all the kiddos still want to talk to me (sometimes)...but it's hard when the kids get very talkative at the same time. They tag team each other to take over my 1 set of ears...and sometimes they will double-team...even triple-team...my ears & brain! It's like Conversation WWF! (yes...I went back to older school wrastlin' terms here)

It is so awesome how weird & random my kids are! And they are all differently weird & random! I love it. And they do enjoy sharing their brand of smarticles & wisdom. But when it all bursts forth at once...well...in my pride as a parent, my brain begins to melt. My brain cannot keep up with all the information being thrown at me! Then they get very upset if I didn't remember that one little detail of an overlapping conversation...like, say...they needed to be at a practice or something. Whatever...I digress...

I have seen awesome pop culture references from other parents about their cabin fever experiences. I've seen where a parent was concerned their home situation had turned into something out of "Lord of the Flies." I have seen parents want to [lovingly] volunteer their own children as tribute. Even ideas along the lines of kid-swapping has been implied...

This amazing compilation, and others, can be found at The D Continuum on Etsy (HERE)

My insanity is setting in at greater levels, I'm afraid...
I offered up, at one point, that Hollywood should take hold of these ideas, place a movie in a winter setting, and then as parents are working out a kid swap for their own sanity actually volunteer their children as tribute...and it becomes a Hunger Games-turns-Lord of the Flies. That, my friends, would be an intense movie, lending to extreme parenting examples to show your children, and then you could remind them that it could end up that way if they don't simmer down!!!

BWAH-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA....HA-HA....HA-Ha....Ha-ha...ha-ha.....ha...*ahem*

I need to get more coffee...the boys have gotten up...and my ears need to stretch before today's rounds of conversation...time to suit up...

And, I promise: I love my kids...I love my kids...I love my kids...I love my kids...
(Anyone repeating it with me?)

Stay tuned...

God Bless, AM~Erica

AM~Erica Experiences a Dangerous Combo

So anyway...

Not sure if you've heard yet, but the midwest was HIT WITH A MAJOR SNOW STORM a few days ago. I know! It was a shock! Imagine how surprised I was when they had called off school for a flurry...that built up to be about 8-10 inches of fast-falling-flurrying.
(Obviously brought to you by the letter 'F')

After the crazy amounts of snow & plowed mounds that are already dangerous to try to get around...we are preparing for yet another round! And it's another round of a whole lot!! Like...probably more than the last round! YIKES!!

Look at what's coming, people! LOOK AT THIS!!!

This is the prediction for our area. Hunker Down, folks...A storm's a-comin'!!

I do know that many of you in Colorado & Kansas have already been hit with it or are getting it right now. It's a slow-moving sucker that just keeps dumping on our parades!

It's Insanity, People!!

So, as we prep for another hunkerin', the stores hardly had time to restock anything.

Hubby & I missed our usual Friday shopping due to the last blast of winter, so we had to try to work it into our crazy weekend...you know...when everyone else was trying get out of their own walls, too. Partially to prep for the next hunkerin' down.

The only way I can describe what we experienced is this...
Survivor: Walmart.

Holy Cannoli!
The shear numbers of people? Insane.
The number of carts crammed into any given aisle? Insane.
The shocking amount of bare shelves due to hoarding? Insane.

Kinda getting the idea?

I was blessed to get one gallon of milk, a big jug of OJ, any sour cream, the last bag of shredded carrots, the last bagged celery stalks...it was frightening!
If you wanted shredded lettuce or salad mix, sliced bread, eggs, almost any shredded cheese...well, you were out of luck! It was so insane.

And the level of characters out at one time beat out a normal hectic run to Wally World. I think one of my "favorites" (term used very loosely) was the short, heavy, colored lady who about ran me over...
She had no cart. I did. So did a lot of people in front of me who ended up in a big cart jam in a main way. This gal got on her tiptoes & yelled in my ear (I think to "clear the jam"), "BEEP, BEEP!!!"
Seriously, lady? Seriously? *face palm*

The whole trip was stressful. Hubby & I were out of breath trying to work thru the mess of the freak-out shoppers. I think folks are confusing this next Snowpacolypse with the actual Apocalypse. You know...like 5 days ago.

Even worse? Based on the big, scary mounds I talked about...it screwed up parking spaces in majorly busy parking lots! People...we saw an entire row of parking spaces gone because that's where the plows stopped...and shoppers used those areas for parallel parking. Ca-Ray-Zay!!

OK...so if all this insanity isn't messing with everyone...I noticed something: THE FULL MOON!

Oh great! If snow doesn't mess with people's heads enough...now we gotta add the stupidity levels...
*face palm*

So...a second major snow storm (this one has delightfully been referred to as "The Blizzard of OZ"...Love It! The name...not the storm...) on top of a full moon. No wonder people are losing it!

I want a medal for surviving Walmart during that! Where Is My Medal???

Winter's procrastination amazes me. We got maybe an inch in the last winter season...total. We've had a snowfall here already that didn't amount to a whole lot...but more than all of last winter put together...but now we have 5 winters worth of snow that Jack Frost keeping stockpiled in the closet & forgot to bestow on us out of laziness...I'm guessing. And just when Jack found all that stockpile, he unveiled the other stockpile that he stockpiled on top of. So, now he's gifting us with what he's been saving up...
...at the last part of winter...
Way to wait there, Jack!

Oh...and here's your warning:
My brainy-brain has been on warp speed...and since snowy days seem to be a PRIME TIME FOR MOMMY BLOGGERS...and it appears we will be cooped up "lovingly" with each other for a couple of days again...be ready for an onslaught of blog product from my brain factory.

You're welcome...

Stay warm & safe, y'all!

Stay tuned...

God Bless, AM~Erica