Homeschoolers Don't Get Snow Days

This day, Monday March 15th, has officially been declared a snow day.

Monday or Tuesday last week there started to be chatter about a "historic storm" that was going to blow in over the weekend.  People were preemptively cancelling appointments, Sunday services, etc.  Apparently the grocery stores were a madhouse (I will never understand this).  It was supposed to be 2-4 feet of snow.  Prepare yourselves!  Don't panic, but do panic just a little bit!

All through the week, the meteorologists kept modifying the snow amounts down in 6-inch increments, but they still insisted the storm would be historic.  So we made sure our flashlights had batteries and we had wood stacked on our porch, just in case the power went out.  I had plans to hunker down and read and bake cookies on this historically snowy weekend.

The snow was supposed to start Friday night, so on Saturday morning I put on my glasses and looked out the window.

And we had maybe two inches.

I have to tell you, I was pretty disappointed.  Where was the snow?  What about my snowy reading Saturday?  Call me weird, but I have a hard time justifying relaxing on the weekends unless I feel forced into it by the weather.  If it's decently nice out I feel like I should be doing something productive.

I spent the morning reading anyway, in between shooting texts back and forth with a friend as we complained about the conspicuous lack of a "historic storm".  The meteorologists kept saying, "don't let your guard down, it's still coming" (how do those guys keep their jobs?)!  It finally started to snow in the afternoon, and to the weatherman's credit, it did actually continue for the next day and a half.  By last night we had two feet of snow.  So I guess they didn't have to keep modifying the snow amounts down by six inches after all (again, how do those guys keep their jobs?).

I am the first person to espouse all the benefits of homeschooling, from the important and academic to the frivolous and insignificant.  Like the fact that we never have to wake up early if we don't want to, and I don't have to pack lunches for my kids every day (that's a huge benefit in my book).  But one thing the public schools have on us is the fact that when it snows a lot, those kids get snow days.  They don't have to do school at all, but most homeschoolers I know feel the need to keep up with their preset schedules and do schoolwork, even when there is a marshmallow world outside.  We usually skip the snow days too, in favor of finishing earlier in May.

But today the snow is beckoning, and I thought, why should we not take a snow day?  Who says we have to trudge through school when there are feet of white powder outside just begging to be formed into snow forts?  

Hence, I've declared this a snow day. This amount of snow only happens once or twice a year anyway, and I am loathe to allow the schools to have any perceived advantage to my kids, even something as small as snow days.

The kids will be spending a large amount of time outside, I'm sure, after they finish their movie (yes, a movie in the morning - it's a snow day, after all).  They started building some snow forts yesterday, and the snow will probably be just right for a snowman.  I am going to bake muffins, have hot chocolate at the ready for the kids, read more books, and maybe finally get around to teaching myself how to embroider (I've only been wanting to learn how for the last year).  Then maybe we'll watch something educational in the afternoon, or maybe we'll just build blanket forts and play games.

It's going to be the best-used snow day ever.

I hope you are having a good start to your week, friends!  I'll be back on Wednesday with my Wednesday Five.