What did you do with your snow day?

Advice on how to survive a snow day at home with your kids.

Are you still standing? 

• Did you celebrate with your kids when they announced school was cancelled, genuinely excited for a bonus day of fun and games at home, with nowhere to go? Great, a snow day!

• Did you grit your teeth and hold back tears, heave a sigh and wonder how you’d make it through the day, so soon after a two-week Christmas break? Oh great. A snow day.

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• Did you have to work from home, being interrupted every few minutes? What a great snow day.

• Did you clear your schedule and declare it a snow day for you too? What a GREAT snow day!

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• Did your kids watch way too much TV? Great, you made it through the day!

• Did your kids play games, create art, and read books? Great, you made it through the day!

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• Did your kids eat way too much junk food? Great, you made it through the day!

• Did you bake delicious, nutritious treats with your kids? Great, you made it through the day!

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• Did you achieve absolutely nothing and now the house is a big huge mess? Great, you made it through the day!

• Did you wash, dry, fold, and put all the laundry away, then organize the kids rooms? Great, you made it through the day!

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• Did your kids get so much fresh air and exercise and joy from playing in the snow? Great, you made it through the day!

• Did it take three times longer to get the kids ready to go outside than the actual amount of time spent outside?  Oh well, you made it through the day! 

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• Did you lay down on the floor face down feeling defeated? Hey, you made it through the day. 

• Did you enjoy more storm chips and a glass of wine on the couch, satisfied after a cozy snow day? Yay, you made it through the day! 

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How to survive a snow day

The point is, however your storm day played out, you made it through the day! It doesn’t matter what you did or didn’t do. It’s just one day. An unexpected kind of day. And you made it through. 

I think a lot of us put way too much pressure on ourselves to do the “right” thing (whatever that may be), to provide the best experience, to be the best we can be at all times when it comes to our kids. Then feel guilty if we do not or cannot live up to those expectations. Personally, I feel more pressure to make the most of PD days - I’m home with the girls and feel like we should go somewhere or achieve something. The pressure is on when I have a day like that with them, like I need to make the most of it and our time together. Planned activities, a full schedule, places to go, people to see.

I see snow days as a freebie. They’re unplanned and unavoidable and an excuse to do nothing, should we please. A cozy day to stay in our pjs, eat all the storm chips, be lazy. Let the day play out. Of course at the end of the day I still had the thought - I should have gotten more done. I should have decluttered. I should have done laundry. For pete’s sake, I felt guilty we didn’t watch a movie! (We watched shows. A lot of shows. Including The Snowy Day on prime: read about it here). Does the mom-guilt ever end? 

The girls had a great day catching up on cartoons, building a fort, playing Twister, baking, and playing outside. They couldn’t have asked for more (ok they could definitely ask for more. They’re kids. They always want more!). And still I doubted if it was enough, if I was enough. But I think if you made it through the day - that’s enough! It’s not always easy being stuck (literally stuck in a snowstorm) at home with young children. 

Whether you loved it or loathed it, that doesn’t make you any less of a parent. It’s unlikely your kids even noticed (or cared) what you were up to all day. They were just psyched for a snow day! And endless snacks. So don’t sweat about making it the picture-perfect snow day. Your version and your kids version of the picture perfect snow day are probably quite different anyway! Work your storm day how it works best for you. There’s always the weekend! And buckle up, because it’s right around the corner. 

Follow me on Instagram: @theheatherchronicles

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