SNOW DAY!!
Since I live in the Midwest, snow days come with the change of season. As a teacher, snow days are a double-edged sword. There are times when you pray for that morning call telling you that you can stay in bed and not fight your way through drifts, slick roads and bone-chilling temperatures. But even as you roll over to go back to sleep, you realize it just means the end of the year is another day away. It also plays havoc with lesson plans, and schedules. Time has changed your perspective, because as a child, snow days were only one thing……GREAT!
As a child I remember lying quietly in bed listening intently to the radio for the words, “Ottumwa Public Schools are closed.” Once those words were heard, the day opened up to endless possibilities. I lay there a bit longer, planning the ways I could use an entire EXTRA day free from the classroom. Of course, layering on all the warm clothes we could handle and still move, so we could head out into that pristine glistening snow, was first on the list. We lived on a block full of children; so snowmen, snow angels, snow forts and snowball fights were everywhere. We stayed out until the call of hot cocoa was too strong to ignore.
Frosty and covered in snow we traipsed into the house. “Straight to the basement! Hang everything wet up on the line!” my mother would yell from some unseen corner of the house. Down we went, struggling to be free of the layers of now soaking wet, cold clothes. Most of them did get hung up…most. Racing back up the stairs we knew we would find steaming cups of extra chocolate hot cocoa with as many miniature marshmallows as we could cram in the mug. Scalded lips and burnt tongues were all part of the magic as we sat and regaled my mom with our snow adventures.
The remainder of the day was spent with a book in a warm cozy corner of the den. Or maybe, we could coax my mom into a game of Monopoly, and waste the afternoon trying to become millionaires. But at 4:30, the race was on to find enough try pieces of dry clothing to go back out with my dad when he arrived home from work. We knew if we could get the driveway and sidewalk shoveled quickly with him, we might get a sled ride around the block.
That was magic, a sled ride around our neighborhood in the dark. There would be no traffic; the world seemed so silent, so peaceful. The snow glittering under the streetlights, our breath hot and moist under the scarves we wore. My mom pulled my brother, my dad me, through the streets of our neighborhood. I felt safe, loved and content.
Last week, after two snow days, I listened as my students told their snow day stories, shared their snow adventures and magic moments. There are many things that have changed since I was young, but snow days….they are same.
Tags: holiday, homeroom, seasons, snow, snow day, students, teacher, teacher blog
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