Oh, here it comes -- snow. A lot of snow on the last weekend before Christmas, upending our plans to frantically tear around Target and the malls, to actually have a babysitter come while we make the rounds of parties...And then there's the question of school on Monday.

For parents, it's a perfect storm -- literally, in this case.

That's one way to look at it. But to calm my blood pressure and my racing heartbeat as I contemplate all we were supposed to do this weekend, I think about these benefits:

Quiet.
Cocoa.
Reading.
Board games.
Movies.
Time with a fluffy orange cat.
Baking cookies.
Sledding.
Blankets.
A fire in the fireplace.
Naps.

OK, the last probably won't happen, at least for me. But still, in our busy lives, sometimes these limits imposed without notice by Mother Nature are secretly freeing.

(Photo by Baltimore Sun photographer Karl Merton Ferron)