New Mom: Snow Letter

An Open Letter to my neighbors, my postal carrier, the UPS delivery team, and pizza guy:

I am sorry, oh so sorry that our sidewalk and front walkway remain covered in ice. You see, during the last snowstorm, when the snow melted and refroze, my husband was out of town. I was home with a sick child under the age of 2. We waited too long, and by the time I had the opportunity to sneak out of the house while my daughter was occupied with a TV show, the ice was frozen solid. I couldn’t budge an inch of it. It has snowed again since that time, and my very kind next door neighbor did snow blow the sidewalk, and I shoveled the walkway. We removed many inches of snow, but still couldn’t cut through the ice below. Now the temperatures are in the single digits, and I fear it will be weeks before we can further clear the walks. We have sprinkled sidewalk salt, but to no avail. I know when I was on my maternity leave, in the middle of the winter, I used to curse those of you who shoveled your sidewalks to within a foot of the neighbor’s house and then stopped. You would clear a lovely, but unusable path, when I, stroller in hand, would have to walk in the street anyway because I could not maneuver through the remaining small pile of snow and ice. Now I see you walking your children to school in the streets and delivering the mail, packages, and take-out dinners with a great sense of adventure because you haven’t seen concrete in front of our house for more than a week. I feel your pain. I am truly sorry. Look for me to make amends with some fantastic contributions to the block party this summer. With my sincerest apologies, NewMom.