I’m not sure how many other people besides my mom will get the Beatles’ reference above, but it’s the first thing that came to mind as a title. We had our first snow yesterday. Not much, but when we headed out this morning there was still remenants on the rooftops of houses and in the mulch of yards. Yuck. Now I’m a fan of snow. I just don’t want to live in it. I like to look at it from a warm, winter window. I don’t like to be out in it - driving, shoveling, even playing. I leave that to Audi. I have a theory that you lose your childhood innocence when you start to do your own laundry. I realized years ago that I stopped doing a lot of things because if I did them, I’d get dirty and have to do some laundry. Yes, playing in the mud with my brother was a lot of fun. Yes, kids are supposed to get dirty. No, I did not see my mother’s face as she tried to salvage the clothes we were wearing when Justin and I decided that the Ghostbusters had a mission on the dirt pile that was transformed by an afternoon rain into a mud hill, and “Toymaker, rest his soul”, Winston never made it out. I first imagine an “aww” face. You know the one: eyebrows furrowed, nose scrunched, mouth in a twisted half smile, half frown. Then, I try to think of the face I want Jayden to catch me with when he comes in from an adventure - the “wow” face. Eyebrows raised, grin from ear to ear - the face that says, “I see a boy who had a good time.” I’ll gladly do that laundry because I know he’ll remember that day for a long time just as I remember my day in the mud - fighting the mud ghost, painting our skin, and making mud pies in aluminum pans. As I look back on it now, I picture my mom doing laundry with a “wow” face. Good thing snow is white. And, yes, I’ll try to lighten up and get dirty once in awhile.