Shit is getting real. Or so Mayor De Blasio tells us.

Sunday afternoon we start to get ‘warning’ texts from our East Coast family and friends asking is we are ok for the impending storm. It was a balmy 8 degrees (celcius) outside, the sun was shining, and even if snow was on its way, it was hardly something that merited any kind of reaction from us.

We snickered, rolled our eyes, and carried on with lovely Sunday afternoons in the Village and Soho, casually strolling, sipping, munching, and takin’ in our happy Sunday NYC afternoons.

And then De Blasio went and pooped on our parade. Or just did his job, I guess.  It was his urging of NYC residents to ‘take this storm seriously’  that caught our unwaveringly law-abiding, rule-following, stay-in-line selves to take pause. So wait, this actually is something, beyond normal CNN-FoxNews-Americana-default-hysteria for the sake of hours of news filler? This storm might actually be legit? And might actually temporarily cripple this city? (not to mention the 50+ million other residents neighbouring NYC.)

Thinking it would be really unfortunate if the dummies from Canada were the ones ill-prepared for a snowstorm, regardless of how severe it promised to be, we did the necessary ‘prepping’, filling all water bottles, stocking up on groceries, charging devices, and ensuring candles, lighters, and blankets were all easily accessible. And then we went to bed, anticipating little more than a dusting this morning, and expecting a business-as-usual day.

Uuuurrrch. It wasn’t until early afternoon, but the warning signals intensified- first, after-school programs cancelled, then warning that pre-school had secured hotels to keep staff in town for emergency-coverage only tomorrow, then public schools being cancelled, and then a final urging from the Mayor to ‘get home and stay home’ tomorrow.

I usually don’t get to do kid pick-up as I work later at the office, but given the schedule and juggling required with cancelled after-school, I got to pick Nora up today. I actually participated in parental bantering (normally something I too easily shy away from), hearing stories about Sandy, and listening to peoples’ predictions about how this storm would compare. And welcoming an invite to meet at the field behind our house at 1pm for a snow date tomorrow to give working parents and kids a break from being holed up in our apartments for the day tomorrow.

While the snow has been steady since early afternoon, and I’ve seen four, FOUR graders scrape our piddly little (inconsequential, might I point out) street THREE times since 6 pm tonight, it doesn’t yet seem to be an overwhelmingly crippling scenario.

But then I remember how much different it must be to receive 2 feet of snow in a city like this, versus a city/town in Canada, where infrastructure just accommodates for such a change. Roads, machines, sanding, and disposal plans are second-nature. In addition, in other places a family with 2 small children might have a car, to begin with. Getting your kid to and from school might be more hazardous via vehicle, but you don’t need to worry as much about whether or not your poor little kid can actually WALK the route in the wind, the cold, the snow…Sure, snow in Calgary, for example, is just something you deal with. But introducing an exposed little kid to this without the comfort of a car, and reliant on a <non-running> subway, or a <completely unavailable> taxi as an alternative to walking takes on a whole new meaning.

We’ve been getting a lot of teasing today from our <smug> Canadian country-men, scoffing at our reaction, at our apparent new softness. And sure,  relatively,  these conditions don’t yet seem as extreme as what we’ve dealt with in the northern deep-freeze.  <firstly- it only makes me realize how shitty those conditions really can be, and makes me think that while I might find comfort in romanticizing the ‘strength’ and ‘resilience’ that a climate like this teaches us, it ultimately just makes us cold and grumpy. or makes me that way, anyway.>  But the means to respond to this weather is different, and that’s what makes this a bit difficult.

I’m kind of excited, to be honest. This is ‘the’ news right now! And we’re in it!

And really I do hope that nothing really bad happens to any communities.

And while we watch it unfold, we’ll monitor our water, ensure devices stay charged, and keep tabs on food supplies. And ration the beer.