Snow Day!

I remember the excitement of snow days when I was a kid. The best ones were the surprises: waking up to inches of snow piled up outside my window and knowing -- without turning on the radio or tv -- that school would be out for the day.

View from our back door at 6:30am on our snow day!
(I love how snow changes the shape of familiar objects. )

But still there was a thrill of waiting to hear my school system named, among the long list in the DC metro area, as one that would be closed. My parents listened to WAMU for the news, I would turn on Channel 4 and wait for Bob Ryan to make the announcement. Then I'd do a little dance, and head over to my best friend's house to make blueberry pancakes before a day of sledding.

Snow days are different for my kids. It's not just the easy access to information via internet. Facebook, Twitter, and alerts through the local government take all the suspense away. Worse for my homeschooled girls, they don't even know the thrill of the announcement of No School. Since there's no commute, we carry on with "school" as usual.

This winter has been rough for Taryn and Kathy, as they hear about other kids getting out of school for extreme cold, threats of ice, and snow that may or may not be enough to prevent driving to the fabulous sledding hill in another neighborhood. Their routine has remained the same: get up, eat something, do some work, then play. 

Which, to a kid who goes to school, might sound pretty great. But that's another story.

Our school system has already announced that tomorrow is a day off. Our schooled friends are probably rejoicing. From Facebook comments, I can see that their parents have mixed feelings about yet another snow day. At our house? Deep sighs. "I know it will be just another normal day," Taryn muttered.

So maybe it won't be. Maybe I'll call it a snow day, too. We will shake up the routine and play hooky from homeschool. 

Do I tell them tonight? Or wait until morning when they see the snow piled up outside their window?

Either way...Snow day! I'm excited, too.