Giving New Meaning to Parenting

The snow has already started piling up outside and children here have begun practicing one of the traditions of winter: checking the weather forecast in hopes of a blizzard and subsequent snow day off from school. I remember many mornings (both as a student and as a teacher) squinting in the dark at the television, hoping to see the name of my school as the cancellation list scrolled across the screen.

Oh, the joy of an unexpected day off!

As homeschoolers, the usual reason to call a snow day (roads too dangerous for travel) does not apply. My boys keep a close eye on the weather nonetheless, and if the neighbors get a snow day you can be sure I hear about it. I’m willing to have snow days, but I try very hard to save those for late January and early February, when we’re all going crazy with the usual gloom and snow.

Hubby and I have been working for a while on some home improvement projects, and things got a bit frenzied last week as we tried desperately to finish a project on time. By Thursday we were both running on fumes, and we were facing 3 more days of hysterically busy schedules.

The boys (bless their hearts) were being very helpful and cooperative Friday morning when I looked at the day’s todo list, looked at the clock, and then looked out the window. It was snowing.

When I told them we were going to take a snow day from school, they almost broke my ribs with the hugging. Then they disappeared to the far corners of the house, each to his own happy pursuit.

I was left alone with my todo list.

This whole thing does beg the question though: what do people in warmer climates do for snow days?

by AmyL

Photo graciously provided by Santa Claus…!!! , through a Creative Commons license, some rights reserved