We woke up this morning to three inches of snow on the ground, and more in the air. It was still dark outside, and you could see billows of soft snow falling in the circles of streetlight. The wet snow clung to the trees and the effect was so beautiful — it looked just like Christmas outside. Seeing as how I’ve been playing the Hi-5 Christmas album for the kids for the past three days now, I’d say it’s official: we are In The Spirit.

Sir Monkeypants went outside to shovel the snow and the kids couldn’t wait to get their snow pants on and join him outside. They helped with the shovelling and frolicked about like puppies. Gal Smiley didn’t even cry when I dropped her off at preschool — the first non-cry day in weeks — because they were building a snowman outside and she was excited about that.

This is one of the awesome things about having little kids — the wonder that every new experience brings. I got excited to see the snow because it was something I knew they were going to be excited about. At least for today, I can see fresh snow and think, “Wow! Footprints! Snow angels! Snowmen! Snow pants!” and not “Crap! Bad driving! Shovelling! Snow pants!”

It’s above zero today, so already the snow is getting slushy and the stuff coming from the sky is more like rain than actual snow. Our driveway is already bare and the rest probably won’t last.

But the magic will.