Snow Day

It has been over two years since our last snow day.  While we did have a "rain day" in the fall due to Hurricane Sandy and the predicted heavy winds, rain, and power outages that never really came, on that day, John was out of town, my kids still went to school, and I sat in Panera writing letters of recommendation, working on the fall play program, and grading papers.  There was nothing bonus about that day except for the ability to get a decent amount of work done.

But yesterday was a gift.  A true gift.

We went to bed Tuesday night with not a flake of snow in sight.  There was none on the ground, and certainly none in the sky.  The forecasts ranged from 2-4 to 4-6 inches overnight, but with all of the hype and build-up that often leads to nothing but disappointment, I was not expecting much.

My alarm went off at 4:50 am as usual, and instead of immediately hitting the snooze alarm once, I looked out of the window.  What I saw was a winter wonderland.  The moonlight shone on on the snow-covered branches of the trees in my back yard and a thick carpet covered the ground and driveway.  It was beautiful.  And thrilling.

The school had not called a delay or cancellation, but instead of getting in the shower as I normally would, I waited for an anticipated phone call.  It took a long time - so long that if my prediction of at least a two-hour delay wasn't correct, I would be late for work.  But eventually, we got word that there was a delay.  I snuggled back under my blanket for another hour.  When my alarm went off for the second time, I showered and then moved to the kitchen, where John sat enjoying a cup of coffee.  He had prepared a batch of pancakes that sat waiting for the breakfast crowd.  The kids woke, and it was while we were having our yummy, unexpected breakfast that the best news came - school was cancelled.

Because of the way our school district handles weather cancellations, snow days are truly like days added back to our lives.  We have four more days with students scheduled in our year than the required minimum that most schools schedule.  If we have no weather-related cancellations, we teach for those four days.  If we have cancellations, we do not have to make up or reschedule those days.  Some people do not like this method of handling snow days; I love it.  While neighboring schools now have to go to school on Monday after thinking they had that day off, for us, yesterday was a complete bonus day.  We never had Monday off in the first place and we have nothing to make up.

We enjoyed our bonus day.  We played in the snow for almost two hours.  We had hot cocoa.  We played with baby dolls and Legos.  We grew crystals.  We made up stories.  I got some things ready for Everly's birthday party this weekend.  We listened to music.  We took naps.  We sang songs.  We ate Girl Scout cookies (ok, that was mostly me).  We took our time and relaxed.

And in the end, we felt rejuvenated by our bonus day.  Ahhhhhh...  I love snow days.