Snow Day

It’s another snow day in New Jersey and my kids are actually bored. We’ve gotten to the point where, while they still hope for snow days, there’s no jumping around, no squeals of glee and no running to tell the other they don’t have school.

Of course, it could be that the teenager goes back to sleep and spends the morning in bed, while the pre-teen knows better than to wake her up.

When my girls were little, snow days meant bundling up in snow pants, hats, mittens and coats and playing outside. We built forts and snowmen and fought valiantly with snowballs. When the roads were cleared, we’d drive to the local park and sled down the hills. We have the requisite photos and videos of the activities.

But now, they have no desire to play in the snow. Snow is cold and wet and they like to be warm and dry. They’d rather Snapchat their friends, watch TV or do some other indoor activity.

There’s only so much they can do by themselves without getting bored. They want to see their friends, they want the typical routine of their days, they even want to be in school, because that, at least, keeps them busy.

They’re old enough, at this point, that having them home doesn’t necessarily infringe on my day. Sure, there are interruptions and I don’t have the house entirely to myself, but I can get my work done when I need to.

I think it’s all the stopping and starting. Start the school routine; get interrupted and stay home. Stay home long enough or often enough and get bored. Get ready to go back to school. Rinse and repeat.

I’m not one to complain about weather—it’s supposed to snow in the winter and be hot in the summer. But this winter has been brutal and endless and it’s only the beginning of February.

And you know it’s bad when the kids are unimpressed with snow days!