February 1, 2021 – Snow days are a double-edged sword. On one hand, it’s great not to have to worry about driving through ice, hail, snow, sleet, and other types of sloppy nastiness that makes your time on the road a treacherous journey, just to bring your kid to dance, gymnastics, soccer, swimming, or any of the other extracurricular activities that generally leave your schedule with little to no wiggle room. After all, once you’ve gotten the call that school is canceled or virtual-only, you may have settled in for a long winter’s nap; the thought of having to de-ice the windshield, shovel the driveway, and warm up the car when the temperatures in the arctic conditions is less than appealing. So when the message comes through that your child’s activity is canceled, you may feel that sense of relief wash over your soul.
Instead of the typical drudgery of rushing kids out the door for school, they excitedly pile on the layers of sweatshirts, jackets, gloves, hats, boots, and scarves to play in the snow. Snowmen are made and dressed (“MOM! Can you get a carrot for the nose? Oh, and we needed a scarf so we used your favorite, most expensive one!”). Spirited snowball fights (here’s my girls starting one), but trust me, it got way more cutthroat than what’s in the video) become the main event. And after they’ve exhausted themselves with their out-of-door fun, they trudge inside (complete with soaking wet articles that leave puddles on your floor) and indulge in some sweet hot chocolate. They are, for the moment, spent; enjoy this moment of quiet contentment, for it will not last.
You Knew It Was Coming…
After some quiet downtime, the natives start getting restless. “Don’t you want to go out and play in the snow some more?” you ask hopefully. They reply in the negative (the snow turned icy or melted away, they’re no longer entertained by snowmen and snowball fights, or some other of the countless reasons they’ll come up with to stay inside). And now…they’re bored.
How To Deal
We all know who the default entertainment committee chair is – you. The exhilaration you felt at the first notice of the canceled activity has evaporated like your youth, hopes, and dreams. The realization sinks in, and that sinking feeling settles in your gut – you’ve got to spend the rest of the day creating distractions for your dear cherubs (or else suffer the agony of hearing whines of “We have nothing to dooooo….!”). Depending on your parenting style, you can handle this a few different ways. First, you can quickly conduct an internet search for “snow day activities.” Just a heads-up, these usually require more work on your part, and the time you spend preparing these will probably last longer than the time your kids will actually DO them. Another option is to tell them that they’re on their own; be forewarned that, even if you’re firm, it’s very possible that they’ll still find a way to annoy you. If you haven’t tried this one yet, give it a shot: Tell them that you’re going to take a nap, and when you wake up, all of you are going to clean the entire house. Most kids will exert every effort to keep the noise down, and will probably leave you alone at all costs! I’m guilty (and a little proud) of that one!
Use all of your motherly superpowers to invent ways to keep them out of your hair, and pray that the roads are passable tomorrow.
I would totally use the “clean the house” trick! LOL!!
So funny how they get bored so quickly “when I was a kid” is my favorite start😂 they all find stuff to do.. it’s been a long year with a lot of outdoor and chalk, and gardening!
Very creative, and typical of this year!
I feel for the parents that are having to deal with this. When we were kids we had to learn how to deal with boredom. I think it will be good for them to get creative!
A hurricane and its aftermath caused us to miss a week of football practice when my boys were young. By the end of the week, all the parents were begging to get back to the normal schedule.
Haha I wasn’t so creative when mine were young! Love it!
I remember it was always so hard for my mom to scrammble and figure out who was going to watch us whenever we had a snow day. Now with Covid it’s probably even more difficult unless the parent is working from home still.
Love the cleaning the house/nap trick haha.
“The natives” 😂😂 I love that
Snow days are a great distraction from the normal routine. Often they are the days that they will remember in the future. It also gives a chance at some downtime which is often in short supply for some.
Hahahaha, great trick!
Entertainment committee chair…haha! We call it “cruise director” cause ya gotta make sure everyone’s always entertained and they want to know “what are we doing next?” 😂
I love the cleaning the house trick! Wonder if it would work on my husband….
Your post cracked me up! Although I’m now an empty-nester, I was reminded of my younger days when I was always the one expected to entertain. Your words rang so true.
I can SO relate to this!! Thanks for the laugh. I’m going to try the nap trick. A nap sounds so lovely!!!
Wow, does that bring back memories – now I get to watch my daughter deal with it! Makes me smile. I just grab a cuppa and relax!
Now that school has virtual options…I wonder at the future for snow days in most districts?
I remember well when mine were little and had “snow days!” I was not creative at all……..lol
Ah, the joys of having active kids with less than the usual activities going on.
Lol my kids are home. All. The. Time. Now. But I don’t hear any “I’m bored” comments now because they know I’ve got a whoooole pile of ideas of things they can do lol!
My kids are home all the time with distance learning… so they have learned not to say they are bored… because I can get really creative when it come to child-labour! LOL
This made me smile! Such a great post!
haha! I love that nap and clean the house tactic! This is gold!
lol! I homeschool so my kids are always home. But I just force them to go outside if an activity or get together gets cancelled. I also have my kids clean the house, Love this!
LOL! Enjoyed reading your creative ways to handle active kids.
No kids home now but I would have certainly tried the house cleaning trick!
Truth! It has been a LONG year! Had 2 hours tonight – for the first time in what feels like forever with both kids at an activity. So weird!
I know it’s hard to remember to treasure these moments that we get to spend with our kids, but we need to. I know we are all busy. I lost my son in 2017, and he now lives in heaven. I wish I could spend one more day with him. Try and remember that each day is precious because you can’t go back in time.
My condolences for your loss. I’ve been making memes for awhile now, and find that breaking up the tension when faced with life’s little trials and tribulations is a welcome diversion.