I’m Going to Miss Those Snow Days

Mamas, I’ve been lying to many of you. Straight up lying. Often to your faces. 

You see, I love snow days, and I will miss them when spring starts to peek her head into the room. Oh, don’t get me wrong. I hate snow. I hate shoveling it. I hate not being able to run around outside. I hate being chilled to the bone the way that whipping winds and five-day-old snow can make you feel.

But even with all that hate, I seriously love snow days.

Before I go any further, though, let me offer a disclaimer: I am a stay-at-home mom. I am privileged that snow days don’t create utter scheduling havoc in my household. And for those parents who deal with the hassle of frantically looking for childcare at 6 a.m., I do not love snow days.

I’ve been dealing with schools my whole life, first my own, then college and post-grad. I was a teacher in my former life. And now I’m a mother of school-aged children. Snow days have always been in play in my world (except for that stint in post-grad Texas–though even then, schools closed for ice). Without being able to escape the “snow day” world, the way I see it, I have two choices really: spend the season in miserable anticipation or find a way to embrace these unavoidable days. So here’s why I’ve chosen the latter.

1. Silence

I have long associated falling snow with silence. I remember walking around my neighborhood with my elementary school friends, falling snow visible in street lights, and it being quiet enough to hear every flake land. It seems so often during snow that the world holes up, and everyone quiets down.

The silence of snow is one of the most calming sounds I know, and it reminds me to take a moment and listen to the present world. This is difficult as a mother of three young children, a member of today’s constantly connected society, and in general. Snow muffles the world a bit, and it’s a welcome moment.

2. Mornings

I’m not a morning person; in fact, I often find I’m pulling myself out of bed because my children are standing and staring at me. I don’t do mornings, though I want to. You see, my mother was magical; she was always awake, dressed, and (somewhat) chipper by the time I woke up (or really, she woke me up), but I was not handed down this gene. So when a snow day rolls around, and I don’t have to jump out of bed and run around at top speeds to get everyone ready for their drop-offs and pick-ups, it’s like a little slice of heaven.

On those mornings, the little people show up next to me, and I can reach for them and snuggle them into bed with me, allowing the morning to wrap back around us. We giggle in bed, watch TV, and plan on staying in pjs all day. When I go turn up the heat in the house (which is usually set cooler since there are no little people scheduled to run around in the rooms), I may make some waffles and coffee and bring them back for a bedroom picnic. We wake up slowly, and since no one in this house does “rushing” well, these days suit us. We manage to get through the first few moments of the day without tears, anger, or both (usually).

3. Finding “Extra” Hours

For some reason, I can get more done on a snow day than on any other day of the year. When a day pops up unexpectedly, and all obligations and expectations suddenly disappear, it’s like a blank canvas of possibilities. Suddenly, it’s not about “squeezing in” this around that. It is hours and hours of openness. I can do anything.

It’s a snow day, and now I’m cleaning the baseboards of my house. I’m also going to box up all the clothes the kids have grown out of. Oh, I know! I’ll clean out the hall closet and wash the couch cushions. I’ll build the biggest block castles and the most intense train tracks. Every doll will get a makeover at the salon, and the Lego house will get built.

Now, truth be told, a snow day usually means I start several “big” projects around the house and complete none of them. Zero. And actually, I often end up with a bigger mess than I started with. I know that after years and years of this pattern, I should understand the reality. But still. When I hear that silence the night before and the sound of the plow dragging up the street in the early morning hours, my mind starts to swirl with all the possibilities of what a snow day could bring. I become the most incredible version of super mom. I can do anything and everything, from start to finish.

4. Quality Time

When I know a snow day is probably coming, I join the hysteria and run to the store. I may be perfectly stocked with food and necessities for a week, but still, I join the flock and throw my car into the closest parking space. No amount of rationality will redirect my minivan. It just goes.

But rather than panicking about getting enough milk, bread, eggs, and water, I frantically search for “things” to entertain my children. A snow day requires some “new” and unusual activity so we don’t lose our collective minds. So I grab baking supplies, enough to make at least four hundred cookies. They want pizza? Well, great, then; they’ll make it. Get new paints and markers!

After this hysteria dies down and I shove my arsenal of snow day supplies in a closet, I find that having these activities is a bit of a joy. It gives me a few opportunities to sit with my little people and soak them in. They work together without pinching and pulling. There’s no time for projects like these on school days, and weekends are so consumed with birthday parties, play dates, and errands that we often don’t get to be together this way.

Life can get into a rut. Snow days help break that rut. They give this Mama a chance to slow down and see her children.

So, be honest, how do you feel about snow days?