I Know How To Rock a Snow Day

Would you also like to rock a snow day? Follow these ten easy steps.

1. Emotionally prepare yourself with the snow day calculator. Because knowledge is power.

2. Go to the store ahead of time so that you can stay home. Everyone says bread and milk, but my essentials are toilet paper and Ghiradelli Double Chocolate Brownie Mix. Actually, I almost forgot toilet paper this go-around, and I was saved by someone posting one of those panicky “Gotta Go Shopping” pictures on Facebook, which reminded me to add the toilet paper to the list. If you have space available at your house and young kids at home, purchase 3 or 4 value-packs of toilet paper and paper towels and voilà, you will have plenty of paper products AND a fort-building kit to inspire their creativity and engineering skills at the same time. You are the best parent ever.

3. Speaking of purchases, we’ve had plenty of fun with this make-your-dining-room-table-a-ping-pong-table kit.

4. If you are fortunate enough to be able to stay home on your snow day, have your child invite over someone who usually has a babysitter after school. As an added bonus, this will prevent your child from asking you to come outside and have a snowball fight. I really hate getting snow under my collar.

5. Before the kids go play outside, remind them that they shouldn’t try to lick anything metal. Don’t consider why or if they would ever do this: they will if you don’t remind them not to do it. And if you have multiple children, they will do it simultaneously.

6. Once the kids are outside, immediately unlock every door in  your house. If a single door in your house remains locked, that will be the door a child runs to when (s)he suddenly realizes that it’s freakishly cold and the bathroom is calling. By the time you hear the mittened, muffled pounding on the door and respond, that child will have fled to another door, and you will be reproached for locking the children out of the house.

7. Also, just throw down a towel at every single door, because even if you’ve trained your child to come in at the messy place, the friends will have entirely different ideas.

8. Continue to prepare for re-entry by making some cocoa. Fill mugs with milk, throw in saucepan, then add equal parts baking chocolate and sugar (we usually do 1/3 cup each for 2 to 3 mugs).

Make small mugs because the cocoa will be both rich and irresistible. So if the kids don’t drink it all, you’ll want to finish it. It’s just a sip or two, right? And it will taste delicious for 5 seconds and then you will feel vaguely sick to your stomach because oh my goodness is that way too much of everything. Better yet, ask the kids to clear their own mugs and rinse them quickly while you stay in another room. It’s safer for everyone that way, people.

9. Don’t forget to have fun with ice and snow. Or if you’re not a driving wimp like me, you can always go sledding.

10. If you’re finding it hard to resist the tv, you can always get someone else to read storybooks, like here or here.

And remember, it’s only about five weeks until spring!! Wait, that didn’t sound nearly as encouraging as I intended. . . .