snow day

What is it about the promise of a snow day that is so exciting? My children lament (hear *whine and complain*) often when they know that their "traditionally schooled" friends have a snow day and they don't.

Yes, I'm the mean mom. I'm the mom who insists on pulling out our school books on snowy mornings and treating the day as any other school day. My rationale has always been, snow doesn't change our status. We can do school then and when May comes and the days are warm and promising, we can be done with school and enjoy those days free and clear of school work.

I guess every mean mom deserves a day of caving in now and then. Today is my day. I claim it as my "caving in day". While we didn't get nearly as much snow as the forecasters promised, enough snow fell yesterday to drift over night and cause the local school systems to cancel classes today. Right now, though, I'm looking out my window at a gorgeous day! The sky is blue, the sun is shining and the snow is sparkling. It's almost magical, if you believe in such things.

In the midst of chores this morning, the question arose again. "How come we don't get snow days again?" Yes, I'm sorry to say, my children suffer from some serious memory loss. It's term is Selective Memory Disorder and I've heard there is no cure.... At any rate, my kids are getting smarter even in the midst of their SMD issues. This time, they came prepared with an argument. "It's okay if we have to do school one day later in May." and "I won't be done when you and the girls are done anyway because of my outside class. So, it won't really matter if the girls have to do one more day with me." and the best one "Let's just take a day off!"

So, I caved. You know what, I'm actually okay with it. I remember the thrill, of my own childhood, of finding out that school was cancelled. I recall the excitement of a day of all play. I remember the joy of just being a kid enjoying a snow day.

All these years later, a snow day still excites me. I have a beautiful sunny, snowy day to stay home and enjoy my kids without the fights of grammar, science, reading and math. Incidentally, today is a day off for Chad as well. So we'll stay home and take a snow day together. Just thinking about it is exciting!