Real Life Mama: Joys of a real snow day

There’s really nothing better than a snow day. As a kid, I remember hearing the buzz of some snow coming and being so excited to sit in front of the radio and listen for my school’s name to be announced on the cancellation list. While the anticipation was exciting, once we were canceled, it was that feeling of being free on a scheduled school day that was so thrilling.

Since good ol’ COVID-19 allowed most of us the luxury of being able to work from home, a lot of us adults no longer receive snow days. However, I am so glad that this week the schools allowed our kids that freedom of a day off – with no online strings attached.

Because guys, our kids needed it! It has been two years now since our kids experienced a “normal” school day. Heck, for some, like my first grader, she doesn’t even know what before COVID looks like. And these couple of years, they have been hard on our babies. Sure, kids are resilient, but they are also still kids.

With the hype of the snowstorm this week, the anticipation for my babies started early. While we had yet to even get a delay, a few of us neighborhood mamas decided we would let the girls play a little later than normal on Wednesday night, figuring school would be canceled. And when that text came through that we were closed, I had five screaming little ladies who were pumped! At that point, it was like their night had only just begun.

Knowing we didn’t have to commute the next day so we could sleep in a little bit, a few neighborhood mamas (and a few more kids) joined us for an evening of fun. While the kiddos played and danced, us mamas took some much-needed girl time to catch up. Hours flew by like minutes, the ground was soon covered in snow, and at that point it just made sense for a mid-school-week sleepover.

Into the microwave bag after bag of popcorn went, as the girls set up blankets, pillows and sleeping bags in the living room. Pretty quickly, the kids agreed on a movie (must have been a snow day miracle), and because it was already so late, it really didn’t take them long to fall asleep.

The next morning, because I am breakfast mom of the year over here — ha — they all had a prepackaged brownie for breakfast and got in a few games of hide and seek. Shortly after, with sugar in hand, they made their way to one of the other mama’s houses to make cookies.

Some of them got to help with the dry ingredients and some with wet ones, as a team they put together two batches that turned out delicious. Trust me, this beat any day at school.

But the fun didn’t stop there, after all, there was tons and tons of snow on the ground, and it was in fact a snow day, so they all bundled up in snow gear and headed outside for some more fun. Pure joy.

Not a worry in the world about a math question that they were struggling to figure out. Not a second thought about wearing a mask or who was quarantined at the moment. Not a fear of grandma or anyone else getting sick. And not stuck behind a computer screen trying to do online work.

Nope, none of those things. Just a good ol’ fashioned snow day – the way it should be.

Look, I know schools are required to have so many days or hours (or however it works now). And if this snow sticks around for a week or two, then I could see doing some online work just to not have to go to school all summer long. But for this week – for this snowstorm – I am just so thankful that the school allowed my babies to experience a full-blown normal snow day.

One day, everything will be back to normal – or maybe this new normal will just become what we are used to. I have no idea. But what I do know is that our kids deserve a break from time to time. That just because we now have the ability to do online school at any given time doesn’t mean we need to exercise that ability.

Our kids, they deserve a random day in the middle of the long, frigid winter to have a sleepover on a school night, eat a brownie for breakfast, make homemade cookies and sling snow with all their neighborhood friends.

So thank you to all area schools that allowed for the pure joy of a real snow day – and most importantly – gave our kids the opportunity to just be kids.

This week’s snow days brought an impromptu sleepover.

Sarah (Pitson) Shrader was born and raised in Lima. She is a Lima Central Catholic and Tiffin University graduate. Sarah is a full-time working mama who enjoys writing about her somewhat crazy, always adventurous life as a mother. She lives in Bath Township with her daughters and writing inspirations, Maylie and Reagan.