We got the call that Chicago Public Schools was cancelling school pretty early on. It was my first time as a CPS parent to get one of these calls (I still can’t believe I am a parent of children going to school) and I was pretty thrilled with that in itself. Plus a tweet!
Due to the extreme weather forecast, classes for all CPS students will be canceled on Friday, February 9.
— ChicagoPublicSchools (@ChiPubSchools) February 8, 2018
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsIt would be a snow day! On a Friday! My husband soon texted that he would be working from home and I’m always working from home on Fridays, so YAY! All of us together on a snow day!
All day yesterday there was a thrill in the air as we trekked through the alley to school while planning and preparing for the snow over night and into today. We got all the necessary preparations ready:
We read our favorite library book (for today) about snow:
We said our goodnights and when we woke in the morning – SNOW ON SNOW ON SNOW —
OH JOYOUS DAY!
Now my husband doesn’t share my enthusiasm for snow, as he does the snow removal, but we were overjoyed. As I sit here now in my cozy office/dumping ground/playroom, I am well aware that not everyone has the luxury of enjoying snow. For health reasons, for lack of warmth and security, for not being able to work from home or the scrambling for childcare that is so so real for working parents, for just pure hatred of cold and snow, I understand I am in a privileged place to enjoy the snow and cold as I do.
These kids are growing up in the Midwest in a big city so they know cold and snow and I’m hoping it builds their character. That’s what I tell myself anyway. They see people working as a community to help clear the snow and taking care of each other. That’s what they know because they get to see it.
It’s no secret that I love winter. The snow and the cold make me feel alive in a way that the other seasons don’t. I also really enjoy hibernating for a season. My whole family has moved to the west and the warmer climates, but my heart is here. There’s something comforting about the changing of seasons – even the brisk cold air – that is in my blood and soul and has shaped me as a person and now shapes our children. It may not always feel like home here, but it does for now. And today is all we really have.
Today, we’ve worked from home, we’ve created Bella works of art, we’re about ready to get on our snow gear and go play outside.
Later there will be cookies and hot chocolate and a movie and boardgames.
For me, a snow day feels like a reason to hide away from the hustle and bustle of the world. A legitimate excuse to NOT do much. To NOT go anywhere or have to do anything. We need this enforced down time. That’s really the reason I love a snow day. I don’t give myself a day off very often. And we know when you have kids and a job that expects you to be available at all times, there’s never really a day off, but today – just for today – it feels a little lighter. Like a snow-globe world with baked goods and no real timetable. Pajamas all day and night and popcorn as a meal.
A bonus day. A snow day. A good day.
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Too Sober For This 