Happy and Disappointed Man
The Memes!

That Sinking Feeling

Happy and Disappointed Man

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.

For more snow day laughs, check out It’s Just a Coating!

Dance-coach-turned-dance-mom to identical twin competitive dancers!

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