Spring Storms

We've had some wild spring weather here in Colorado, and it sounds like we're in for a doozy this weekend.  It's supposed to snow up to 9 inches in the Denver metro area tomorrow and we're getting warnings that it could cause problems with the power since it's expected to be a wet, heavy snow falling on leafed-out tree branches.  I guess we'll see what happens.  I'm hoping that it stays warm enough for most of the moisture to fall in the form of rain, because that we can use.

Hail Storm

Aftermath of the hail storm

Stormy skies over the southern foothills

Storm on its way in

Of course the meteorological storms aren't the only type we have to deal with this time of year.  School is almost over and kids are basically done mentally.  But we have to keep them motivated for a couple more weeks.  While my daughter is desperately ready for school to be out for the summer and there's significantly more complaining than usual, she'll still do the work.  My son, on the other hand, would just as happily stop doing any work at this point.  It's like herding cats trying to get him to focus and actually complete his work.

I feel like lately I haven't had very many positive interactions with my son, that pretty much every time I speak to him I'm correcting him.  It doesn't make for a very harmonious relationship.  But I just think about the scene in the original Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory movie with Gene Wilder where Veruca Salt's mother tells her father, "happiness and harmony, that's what matters," as she downs antacids.  I know that parenting isn't about always getting along, it's about raising these kiddos to be good people.  But I really enjoy my children and wish that I didn't have to spend quite so much time ensuring that they'll grow to be happy, productive adults.  Maybe that's why people enjoy being grandparents so much; they really can just enjoy the children because the outcome is no longer their responsibility.

We'll get through this, we do every year.  Then the kids can take a nice break from homework and responsibilities during the summer.  By the time school starts again they're usually ready for some structure again.  I guess this is just the normal cycle (both weather and parenting); it's just hard to deal with this particular part of the cycle.