Spring break is on the horizon here at ABC Head Start. It starts next week when employees of ABC Head Start will kick up their feet for a week (and of course miss the children and families we have become so fond of.) For me, spring break starts tomorrow morning. I am flying off to a tropical destination and after this winter, I need it. Is it just me or has this winter seemed incredibly long and a bit miserable? I am not usually one to complain about the weather, after all I have no control over it, but this year has been rough! I feel like I’ve shoveled more snow than ever before. I have one staff who is experiencing this Edmonton winter for the first time in her life and I keep assuring her it’s not always like this…she’s ready to move back to a warmer climate. I feel so strongly about this winter being particularly terrible that when my dentist started debating it with me I considered finding a new dentist, COME ON HOW CAN YOU SAY THIS WINTER “WASN’T THAT BAD???”
The relentless snow, the cold, the relentless snow and cold in MARCH, all of it makes me feel compassion for many ABC Head Start families (and at least one staff person) who is experiencing this for the first time. In Alberta we have a sense of pride in saying “Our grandparents drive 100km/hr through 4 meters of snow during a blizzard without flinching!” Something to be proud of I guess. But let’s take a minute to remember the people who have NEVER drove in this when we feel like being impatient on the roads. Or the single mom who is walking with her children hauling bags of groceries in these blizzards. Or the father that is working long days and nights in these conditions. Or the elderly couple trying to walk on the layers of ice and snow. The winter has been tough, it can make us all a little grumpy, but remember to have compassion for your fellow Albertans.
That is why I declare that every Albertan deserves a spring break this year. Even if the weather hasn’t quite got to the “spring” part yet, let’s beat the weather to it and find something that makes us happy. Take a road trip, go eat at a restaurant you’ve never eaten before, explore a part of Edmonton you have never experienced before, do whatever makes your heart sing! And welcome spring like you never have before.
