Friday, January 28, 2011

Do you remember.... snow days?

Waiting for Spring

I grew up in Ohio, and the climate was the same as Western Pennsylvania.  Snow could start as early as October, and still be flying as late as April.  It has been known to snow on my birthday in years past, which is in late April.  So, all this coldness and snow, it is really nothing new to me.  What is new is my attitude toward it.

As a kid, I loved the snow.  We lived on a giant (at least to my child's eyes) hill, and our yard was all downhill, so snow meant snow days from school, and that meant sled riding.  I remember a few tense bus rides home when snow storms hit during the day, once, the bus driver had all the remaining kids on the bus sit only in the seats above the tires, in the hopes that it would help prevent sliding around a particularly sharp bend.
Hilltop Vista 2

When we were kids, the only way to find out there were snow days was to watch tv or listen to the radio, to the long list of schools being announced as being delayed or canceled.  If you missed your school, you had to wait for the next time they went through the list.  You held your breath, and it always felt like your school was the very last to cancel.  Now, kids have it easy.  They can check the news websites, or facebook or twitter, and many districts often call the homes of all students on automated systems.  Kids today have it cushy I tell ya!

I loved getting to sleep in on snow days, and then get up and watch soap operas, eat soup, go play in the snow, and then come in and make hot chocolate.  Now, I do not enjoy the snow nearly as much.  

Long Shadows

When I worked every day, it never really bothered me when it snowed, because at least I still had somewhere I would normally have to be, and if it was really bad, I could call off.  But most of the time, I braved the roads and went to work.  Now that I am a homemaker, snow days are not really a treat.  They keep me from going out to run errands and do things I need to do to keep the household running.  Grown ups just do not really get snow days.  I am constantly begging Hubby to take a snow day, in part because I fret about his long drive.  But mostly, I just want someone with whom I can sleep in, watch soap operas, eat soup, go play in the snow, and then come in and make hot chocolate.