Too Many Snow Days

379

By Krista Newbert
This year it seems that every school vacation has been extended by a snow day.
Just when we moms are ready to send our kids back to school after a long holiday break or long weekend, we get the phone call that school will be closed due to inclement weather.
Does it mean I wait a good two hours before I tell my kids the “no school” phone call came, in hopes that maybe there would be a change in the weather?
It seems like Mother Nature is playing a cruel joke on moms. Aren’t we moms supposed to stick together? Didn’t Mother Nature know I was planning on a little “me time” before she decided to dump a foot of snow on us the night before the kids were to return to school?
I love a snow day as much as anyone, but not when it comes on the heels of being home with the kids for 10 straight days.
But as all moms do, we do what we have to do. We wrestle our kids into boots, snowpants, hats, gloves, and jackets, only to undo it and then do it all over again after they tell us they have to go to the bathroom. Then they stay outside for a mere 10 minutes before they want to come in for some hot chocolate. Next comes the usual fighting, whining and crying that ensues from all of us being cooped up in the house that makes me want to lock myself in the bathroom and stay there until the roads are cleared.
But somehow I pull myself together, usually with the help of my husband, and head out to the sledding hill, feeling a bit guilty for my anti-snow day feelings, as I hear the belly laughs of my kids as they zoom down the hill. I do enjoy the rosy cheeks, the runny noses and the sweet smiles. I even decide to join my son for a few rides down the hill, knowing that these moments are all too brief.
As we drive back home, the roads seem fine and I’m thinking they probably just could have had a delayed opening. Then I look in the rearview mirror and see my little guy’s beautiful blue eyes that look even bluer against his nearly frostbitten red face, and hope that little things like a snow day will always make him so happy.
Of course we don’t even make it to the driveway before my daughter asks, “What are we going to do now?” Followed by, “I’m bored.”
That being said, I am done wearing my jammies inside out, done flushing ice cubes down the toilet, putting a spoon under my pillow or any other silly techniques that my kids swear will make it snow, because this mom needs her own day off.