Snow Day?!?!?!



It is a right of passage as a Canadian child and parent to experience what is called a ‘Snow Day’.  A translation for this is basically that the school buses are not running due to inclement weather that threatens the safety of our children and our bus drivers.

The first step in a ‘Snow Day’ is finding out that transportation is indeed cancelled.  You can do this by checking your school board’s web page.  SCDSB has a list of the school regions and whether or not things are a go that is updated between 6am and 7am. 

The second step is determining what is in your families best interest for the day.  If you have to go to work and feel it is safe to do so…yipeee!  The schools are open, you just have to be sure that you can collect the kids when school is out.  If you are like me with a somewhat flexible schedule…you gotta think fast.  Do I need to have a day to myself to get stuff done OR are the kids only young once and I love them so much I want to spend time with them?  Some children walk to school and I am pretty certain the same thought process applies.  Walkers are allowed to stay home too.



This week alone we had two ‘Snow Days’…TWO!  The first day was Monday due to sub zero temperatures that were seriously unbearable for anyone to even walk outside.  It kind of felt like this the entire weekend prior so we were already feeling a little like the walls were closing in.  I decided to keep the kids home if they wanted to and it was affirmative from their end.  OK!  So here are my suggestions for activities based on my children (Ages 6 & 8):

·      Watch a movie at home or go to the cinema
·      Chances are most indoor play areas busy under this circumstance so kudos to you if you choose this option…I opted out.
·      Baking…and if you don’t bake…get an easy pre-mixed ditty and your kids will love helping.  We made rice krispie squares…total cheat but they love it
·      If you have multiple children and they are getting along…play a board game.
·      If you have multiple children and they are not getting along, spend time with one and then the other, however that might be.
·      Set up the expectation that they will be able to have some screen time but not for the entire day.  They turn into little demons if you let that run its course.
·      Get them to help you with house chores…THIS I should have done on Monday.   Make them know that staying home is not always the better option…this I say especially if they are driving you nuts.  Or just threaten to take them to school after all.



The second ‘Snow Day’ was a brilliant true to the words day.  Luckily, I was not scheduled to work and happily kept the kids home.  It was still cold but a milder version.  The snow was perfect for sledding and building a snowman, so that is what we did!  It was a fantastic day, the sort of day where you spend so much time outside that your winter outerwear is sopping wet and it is so satisfying to take off and make some hot chocolate to warm up.  That’s it…a Snow Day should be a fun day…once in a while.  Just for the record, I personally will not be keeping my children home every ‘Snow Day’ as I feel like it is also fun for them to experience school when there aren’t as many kids there.  That can be fun too.   Here’s to a fun and safe winter for everyone!

Do you have school age children?  What do you do on a ‘Snow Day’?  We would love to hear from you!

xoxo
N

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