The Anatomy of a Snow Day

The Anatomy of a Snow Day was first published in Richmond Parents Monthly January 2011

One of the perks of being a teacher is snow days. Some jobs offer Christmas bonuses, yearly raises, hour long lunch breaks (where you actually get to LEAVE the office), expense accounts, company cars…well, the list goes on and on. While teachers do not get any of those glamorous perks, we do get summer vacation and SNOW DAYS! Snow days are a welcome relief from the daily grind, but, after closer inspection, I’ve come to realize that snow days are not quite as relaxing as one might think.

A Typical Snow Day Morning

5 AM

I wake up thirty minutes before my alarm clock, jump to the window by my bed and peek out. SNOW! I run to the bathroom window and look out at the back of the house to make sure that the snow is indeed EVERYWHERE.

5:02 – 5:15 AM

Crawl back into bed and listen to my clock radio for the ANNOUNCEMENT. Wait for it…wait for it…was that it? I’m not sure; I was too busy thinking about what fun I was going to have today.

5:15 AM

Turn on the TV and get my glasses so I can see the TV. Crawl back into bed. They just finished the list so I have to wait for them to do it again. The suspense is agony. What if we’re the only county in the area that has to go? What if it’s another debacle like last year, where I drove to school in a blizzard, only to find out that schools had JUST been closed, but our students, at 7 AM were already on buses and en route! The late starting schools in our county had a snow day, and the early starting schools, like mine, DID NOT! (Only in the Frumpy Zone…)

5:30 AM – 5:40 AM

THERE IT IS!!! NO SCHOOL!!!! WOOHOOO!!!!! Wait; let me watch it again, just to make sure I wasn’t hallucinating. Yup! No school! I watch it five more times- just for fun.

6:00 AM

I bundle up and help my poor husband, who works at a hospital, and NEVER gets a snow day, dig out his car. Last year, during the travesty where I had to go to school in a blizzard, was his day off. My agony that day, provided my husband with much amusement.

6:30 AM

I have about thirty minutes of peace before the kids wake up, so I make a cup of tea.

6:35 AM

OK, I was wrong. My son comes running down the stairs yelling, “It snowed! It snowed! It snowed! Can I go outside now?” Of course, his enthusiasm wakes up his sisters.

6:36 - 9:30 AM

For the next three hours, I will have some version of the following conversation with my children:

“Can we go outside now?”

“Not right now. You need to eat breakfast, and you need to wait for the sun to come up.”

“When can we go outside?”

“I already told you – after breakfast.”

“Let’s eat now, we’re starving.”

“It’s not even 7 yet. Why don’t you watch some TV.”

(Notice my desperation…I’m already resorting to electronic devices and the sun hasn’t even risen.)

“No, we just want to watch the snow.”

“? ”

“Mom! I think it’s melting! We need to get outside before it melts!”

This is a very crucial time during the snow day. For the next three hours, the kids will do whatever I tell them under the threat of NOT being allowed out in the snow. Since this is the only time during this day that I will have their cooperation, I take full advantage. “You can go outside at 10:00, but first you have to clean up your rooms. That means pick up everything and PUT IT AWAY, not just shove it under your bed. You WILL NOT go outside until this is done.”

There’s a lot of moaning and groaning, but miraculously, a mere 15 minutes later, all rooms are clean.

9:00-10:00 AM

I spend an hour getting the kids dressed in multiple layers to go outside and brave the forces of winter.

10:01 AM

Finally! The kids head outside.

10:30 AM

“We’re cold, can we come in and have some hot chocolate?”

Now I have a whole pile of wet clothing, coats, hats, scarves, mittens and gloves that need to be dried before the next snow outing this day and it’s not even 11:00 AM yet. Welcome to my snow day.

Reflection

My, how my snow days have changed. With social media, I no longer have to wait to see the announcement on TV. Although, I do like seeing it float across the screen later in the day.

Now, my teens sleep in, eventually wander through the kitchen like zombies, grab some food, and head to their rooms for uninterrupted electronic bliss. While I get to do . . . whatever I want! NO - I am NOT going to nag them about their electronics. It’s a snow day. They can do what they want, which allows me to do what I want.

I am always pleasantly surprised when they make their way downstairs, around 2:00 PM, ready to go outside. Of course, I have to send them back upstairs repeatedly to get more layers on. “No, you cannot go outside in a shorts and a hoodie.”