An affliction of Southern Children

I love Georgia! I love the South! I love being Southern. I am so happy and proud to be a G.R.I.T.S.!! That is the one thing I worry about with the army because I want my children to be Southern, too. I am glad they have never lived anywhere but the South. They may be in the third house of their short lives, but the only states they have lived in are Georgia and Louisiana. I love that they were both born in Georgia. I love that they order "Sweet Tea" when we are out to eat. I love that they say "y'all." I love that they love boiled peanuts (or as they call them "wet peanuts).

In my opinion, Georgia is the best state ever! We have it all! We have beaches, we have mountains, we have lakes, we have rivers, we have parks, we have all kinds of sports teams - we have it all! The perfect place to live!! I have such great memories of growing up in the Atlanta area. Stone Mountain, Zoo Atlanta, Six Flags, White Water - every kid's dream, right?

The only thing that is lacking in Georgia and the South (especially when you are a kid) is SNOW. Since we do not get a lot of snow, we do not have much equipment to clear roads, etc. So when a rare snow happens, the world stops. When I was little, snow was the neatest, coolest thing ever. We always got out of school. We got to play outside. Mom made us snow ice (a Tupperware cup scraped along the sidewalk to get snow, a splash of milk and vanilla, and a little sugar - I think. . .). We got to sleep late. The world sort of stopped. There was nothing bad about a snow day every now and then, right?

David and I, both children of the South were shocked when we were in Germany and snow was not that much fun. Sure it was fun to play in, but the world did not stop. What? David has to got to work? We are expected to DRIVE OUR CARS?! It is snowy and icy and dangerous, right? Apparently, in other regions of the world, people know how to drive in snow! Who knew?!

I already mentioned that my children have (so far) been able to be children of the South as well. So the only "snow" these babies have seen up close was a brief snow/sleet/slush "storm" Easter weekend of 2007 in Leesville, Louisiana. We were thrilled, elated, excited! SNOW!! David was in Wal-Mart when it first started and they actually made a store wide announcement heard throughout, "Attention shoppers of your Leesville Wal-Mart. It is snowing. I repeat, it is snowing."

SNOW BUNNIES, get it?

But there was no accumulation and nothing hung around longer than a few minutes. Bummer.

The point of all of this is to illustrate that my children are suffering from an affliction that many other Southern children probably face. I am not sure what the name is, but I believe it is a direct result of severe and chronic snow deprivation.

They see children on TV making snow angels, but they cannot do it. They desperately want to lay in the cold snow and wave their arms and legs back and forth frantically to create a lovely snow angel in the fluffy, white snow. But alas, they cannot. I have been able to capture their regional affliction on camera. This happens often, but I have only captured it a few times. I must warn you, it may be difficult to look at.

Are you ready?

Are you sure?

Here they are:

Jessa making a "grass angel" in the Summer of 2007 (note the broken arm).

Spencer making a "dirt angel" last week.

Although it was dirtier than the grass angel,

you could actually see the arm and leg impressions in the dirt.

Poor Southern children. . .