Please don’t get me wrong. I love snow.

Driving in snow? That is something else.

The weekend of the surprise snow, I woke up and made myself breakfast. Being first awake in the house is a pleasure. So I was enjoying the peace, when suddenly there was a commotion upstairs. My older son came rushing down. “Mom, I need you to drive me to work. I overslept!”

Older son seldom oversleeps. When he wasn’t up, I assumed he was off from work or working his second job, which starts later.

My initial response was, “What the heck! Did you look outside?”

Of course, I drove him to work. I have a 4WD SUV. It was fine, though the roads were not great.

Then came the evening. My ex had picked up younger son later that morning. Then the bonus snow came in. I met my older son at his friend’s, so we could walk her sweet dog. My anti-lock brakes kicked in on Union Street. My older son wanted to go to a restaurant in Quakertown. He was utterly against driving down to pick up his brother. I texted my ex after the dog walk. No response. So as we were creeping down 378 South, I asked my older son to call him.

There’s a reason for that. I could have pulled over and called myself, but my ex accepts “No” far better when my older son says it.

Unfortunately, my ex was not in a listening mood. He offered to drive the youngest home himself. That gave me the shudders. He finally compromised on meeting us in Quakertown. An hour later, we made the swap. I wanted to stop in the supermarket but I was vetoed.

The drive home was wretched. We crept slowly up 378 North. There were multiple cars off the road, and some stuck on it. Thank heaven for 4WD and anti-lock brakes. A long time later, we made it home. I have never felt so happy to park the car.

Fast forward to this weekend. I have a permit for a parking garage near me. The city made all the garages free at 6 p.m. We had plans that night. I canceled them in favor of keeping my car safely in the garage. My youngest was surprisingly understanding. So we spent a quiet Saturday at home.

Stay safe inside, folks!

Snow is beautiful – but driving in it? No.