My dad is flying into Oklahoma today because it snowed in Amarillo seven years ago this month.  Maybe that is a bit dramatic, but it’s mostly true. In 2005, Matt was deployed to Iraq, and I was deployed in 29 Palms with three children ages 4, 3, and 1. In April, I decided that we should go east and see some family, so I loaded up the car and kids, and we drove to Oklahoma via Arizona. By myself. More evidence that I was walking around in a preschoolerdom-induced fog at the time. I had decided to drive from Arizona to Amarillo, and then stay the night in a roadside motel with the munchkins.

I don’t remember much about the road trip, except that I had planned ahead far enough to realize that I was going to have to leave three VERY busy preschoolers unsupervised for a few minutes in the motel while I took a shower. I bought a huge box of powdered donuts. I barricaded the door. I turned on cartoons.

When you have preschoolers, showers are few and far between as it is. To attempt a shower in a motel room with those three was madness. I prayed wildly that they would not work together to move the huge chair away from the door. I soaped up at the speed of light. Then, I heard the inevitable knock.

“Momma! It’s snowing!”

It was May 1^st. I pictured that box of powdered donuts flung from one end of the room to the other, creating a sugar snowstorm. I started calculating cleaning damages in my head. I willed the showerhead to spout faster to rinse my hair. I wrapped up in a towel and peeked around the corner, hoping to avoid any sticky residue still circulating.

The room was just as I had left it. Three kids were standing with a powdered donut in each hand, their faces pressed against the hotel window.

It was snowing. Suddenly I wished that it had been powdered sugar in the carpet, instead of a slippery five hours ahead on I-40. Or worse, getting snowed into a motel with three preschoolers by myself!

I went into overdrive. We were dressed, loaded and packed in fifteen minutes flat. I put that car in drive, and I don’t think we stopped once until it stopped snowing about three hours later. We finished our drive to Oklahoma and had beautiful weather the rest of our visit. I don’t remember anything about the drive back to California, but waking up to snow was the last straw in the box for a momma trying to hold on during a deployment. Since then, I’ve tried to do a lot less by myself.

This spring, when we realized that Matt had to fly back to Norfolk before we could get all the way across I-40, my dad graciously offered to fly in to help drive us this last leg back to Arizona. I may still buy some powdered donuts to eat in Amarillo in the morning, but whatever comes, I’ll have help.