This winter snowfall not so magical for Houston families
The first time a child sees snow should be magical. Not for my two kids — it was a disaster. Their tiny hands, tucked into mittens, quickly became so cold they cried.
That wasn’t the worst part. The historic arctic blast that descended on the city with snow and icy rain left millions of people without power. So when my kids wanted to retreat to a warm house after playing in the snow, there was no heat. The temperature inside our house quickly plummeted. They cried some more.
By nightfall, it was 30 degrees inside the house.
Like many Houstonians who have soldiered through hurricanes and floods, I hoped that the power outage would be temporary. A few hours of inconvenience, then we would get back to enjoying a winter wonderland at a time when temperatures are typically springlike.
So I did what many parents across the state did — looked for any way to stay warm. I piled every comforter, blanket and throw I could find onto my bed and had my kids and two dogs climb into the cozy bedding. I lit the room with candles, and we sang songs and nursery rhymes until they nodded off. I snuggled into the warm cocoon myself but couldn’t sleep, worrying what the next day would bring.
Outside my window, the world around me was black — apocalyptic, end-of-days black. Not one light illuminating the street.
By morning, I could see my breath and feel the deep chill.
My network of girlfriends was busy texting and calling each other with our diminishing cell phone batteries to express our frustrations and share emergency strategies.
Priority 1: Warming up our bodies. No. 2: Keeping the cell phone charged in case of emergency. We were lucky enough to be able to do both in the car. My daughter thought this was a fun game. She got to sit in the front passenger seat for the first time instead of her car seat. I loaded the dogs into the back so they could thaw out, too.
As luck would have it, the snow melted, and my car’s front window cracked from one side to the other. A long, deep crack. A fitting metaphor for this new year.
The winter storm forced parents and families to look for whatever ways they could to stay warm. My neighbors’ house burned after they tried to use their fireplace. There were stories of hypothermia and carbon monoxide poisoning.
I was fortunate. My friend and her husband took us in, gave us a warm bed and food while we waited out the massive statewide power outage. I had two nights of sleeping in the same bed with my children — a beautiful thing until I discovered one does somersaults in her sleep, and the other head-butts the pillow when he changes positions.
My dogs stayed behind in our dark house, and my heart hurt for that. It’s hard to move two little kids and two big dogs during a state emergency. But I returned every few hours to check on them. At one visit, the electricity turned on long enough for me to shower after three days of not. Before I was able to rinse off, the water turned off.
I didn’t know whom to be angry with, as I managed the situation with kids and dogs while a pipe burst in my attic, spewing water through light fixtures. And my senior mother had no power. So many people suffered. Could this have been avoided, as many experts say?
It’s not like any of us needed more drama right now.
My children and I sang songs and nursery rhymes until they nodded off. I snuggled but couldn’t sleep, worrying what the next day would bring.