Snow Day!

Dressed in his snow pants and t-shirt, Declan patiently stared at the wall while he swayed from foot to foot.

The sun had recently popped over the horizon.  The SNOW day had officially begun.  Before he could go outside to play, though, I needed to feed him breakfast.

“Declan,” I said, “I’ll start making your breakfast as soon as I take this package to the mailbox and walk the dog.  Can you make sure Bobby is up and in his English class?  It starts in two minutes.”

I plugged in the waffle iron, grabbed my coat, and found the dog leash while Declan did the snow pants shuffle up the stairs.  As I bent to put the leash on the dog, I heard a mighty bellow from the upstairs.

“GET UP! YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE IN YOUR ENGLISH CLASS!  MOM SAID SO!  GEEEEEEEETTTT UUUUUUPPPP!”

“Wow, he is really good at this,” I thought, as I zipped up my coat, “I should get him to wake Bobby up every day.”

 Something fell in the bathroom as the bathroom door swung frantically open.

“Is everyone okay?” Bob called in wonder. “What the heck is going on?  Is someone hurt?”

“No one is hurt.  Just our ears.  Declan was getting Bobby up for class.”

“Oh.  Wow!  That was loud.”

High school and middle school classes began.  Dogs were walked.  Mail was mailed.  Waffles were made and consumed. 

Then a particularly important email had to be sent.

“Let’s just tell your teacher that you are not going to school to play in the snow.  She will understand.”

“We can’t say THAT!  They will make me sit on zoom all day if I tell them I am going to play in the snow.”

“No, they won’t, silly.  Okay, I will tell your teacher you are taking a sick day.”

“You have to tell them I AM sick so then they won’t make me sit on zoom.”

“No one is going to make you sit on zoom today.  You have gone to school every day.  You have done all your work.  You get to enjoy the snow day as it should be enjoyed.  I will tell them you are sick for today.  Okay?”

Declan’s face looked pained at my wording, but he nodded.  As he gathered his coat, gloves, hat, and boots, I heard him talking to himself. 

“I have gone to school every day.  I haven’t missed a day.  I have gone to school every day.  I’m going to play today.”

And off he went.  To play in all the snow day glory.

Snow days are not the same as they used to be.  Virtual schooling has taken away the ability to sleep in on a day when the schools closed for snow.  Online learning has ended hours of sledding and snowman building.  As an adult, when your office moves to your basement, it doesn’t matter if the trains can’t take you downtown to your physical office. 

In short, a ton of snow no longer equals a day off.

Unless you decide to claim the day on your own.  Which is what we did for D.

I’m not as concerned about the big kids getting a snow day.  When the truancy letters kept arriving, I realized my older gems had taken it upon themselves to skip classes they weren’t really interested in attending online to play videogames, video chat with friends, or watch YouTube. 

They’ve already claimed their days.  If they want to play in the snow today, they have a half-hour lunch and are done their days at 2. 

But D will play outside.  When he comes in for his clothes to dry in the dryer, he will jump on his trampoline or chill in his cozy canoe.  He will watch a movie and eat hot macaroni and cheese. Until it is time to go back outside and enjoy the snow for all its fun.

Today, Declan will have an official snow day.  He’s earned it!