No More Snow Days??!!

Flashback: A winter day in the late 1970’s. At 6:30am, the phone rings. It is our neighbor, who works for the school district. She informs my mom or dad that school has been cancelled for today. We know before it even hits the TV or radio! It’s a SNOW DAY!!

Back to today – 2020.

I read a New York Times article today that echoed what I had read in a few other articles from our local newspapers and TV stations. The “Snow Day” is probably a thing of the past, thanks to COVID-19 and the pandemic!

I wish I could say that this was not true, but it looks like that is exactly the case. Thanks to the schools being forced to close to “flatten the curve,” and the technology for remote learning, there is no reason for school to not proceed on days when the weather is bad. Snow days will be replaced with virtual learning.

I do understand that going virtual solves the problem of adding on days to the end of the school year, because of too many snow days. No kid wants to have to go to school later than they have to. However, I think that by making every snow day a virtual day robs kids of certain things that they may only get to do on snow days.

I look back fondly on the snow days of my childhood! There were so many things to do!

Sledding

It was always fun to gather up some kids and find a good hill to sled down. Every so often, someone’s mom would pack up the car and kids from the neighborhood and take us to a HUGE hill somewhere! These were good times!!!

Snowmen

When the snow was “good packing”, you could bet that almost every kid was out on their front lawn making a snowman! I remember looking for all the perfect things for his eyes, arms, and such. We had an old beat up hat we would put on ours. It was always dirty, too, because it would pick up all the grass and twigs that were on the lawn.

Forts

Again, if the snow was the right texture, you could go out and build one hell of a snow fort! I have blogged about this in the past. We had stuff to make blocks and build the forts with. We really had some amazing snow forts. I can guarantee that every snow fort I ever built was built on a snow day!!

Snowball Fights

If you’re building a fort, you know you are gearing up for war! There is bound to be one amazing snowball fight! You’d stock that fort up with as many snowballs as you could make in preparation for your enemies. Who didn’t love a good snowball fight?!

Skating

While I never learned to ice skate, I know many people who did. Before I moved to Warren, there was a pond that was next to our house. When it would freeze up in the winter, people skated on the ice. I would go out in my snow boots and slide all over the ice. What a blast!!!

Snow Angels

Whether you are a child or an adult, there is just something fun about flopping down in the snow and making a snow angel! I am SO looking forward to doing this with my daughter!!

It makes me sad to think that some kids will never know the fun and excitement of getting a snow day. It seems that technology has robbed children of yet another thing.

Perhaps before banning snow days completely, districts could allow for one or two days for snow days? Teachers could use the day to adjust lesson plans, or something like that…. I pray that snow days don’t vanish like a sledder at the bottom of a hill….

Maybe I will just have to make it a point to “call in sick” for my kids so they can enjoy a good snow day in the future…..