Snow days

I learned some valuable lessons during our first official snow day:


1) That phone tree is so helpful and friendly, but very, very early in the morning. It’s like a snooze alarm that goes off 2 hours before you really want to get up on your newly-declared day off.

2) The term “snow day” is somewhat confusing for kindergarteners, particularly with no snow on the ground.

3) Snow days come with built-in parenting expectations of fun and fabulousness that are difficult to live up to. Days off are supposed to be filled with special, snow-day awesomeness involving complicated crafts, cookie-making, or fort-building. It has to be more than just your average Saturday—moms are required to bring the fun home, without a trip to Target. Tough.

4) I’m not sure how it is for SAHMs, but for this part-time mom, a whole day off with kids, with crafts, is rather exhausting. It’s much easier and more restful to just go to the office.

5) A full day of togetherness for 3 people who do not normally spend that much time together in the home results in a roller-coaster emotional effect. The transition between “wow mommy! This is the best day ever!” to a tattle-telling whinefest is very quick and leaves the rider a bit dizzy. The injury report list is a long one.