Snow Days Aren’t Fun Anymore

Well, the “Storm of the Century” turned out to be just another garden variety weather event. The breathless predictions of 23 inches of snow turned out to be a wimpy 4.5 inches in RVA. The Snowpocalypse was avoided for the umteenth time in my life and everyone spent most of the week cooped up at home eating milk toast, because we all had plenty of dairy products and bread.

The low temps and icy neighborhood streets meant that schools were closed. A snow day used to mean sledding and hot chocolate and soiling the new winter coat you got for Christmas. Not anymore.

These days snow days are “remote learning days.” E-learning days. Asynchronous school days. “Honey, we can’t go outside. You have to read chapters 11 and 12 and do your worksheets. But Mommy has work to do as well, so I’ll microwave some chicken nuggets later for lunch.” #yech

I am so glad I grew up in an era before computers and cell phones…and frozen chicken nuggets. Virginia doesn’t always get significant snow – or any snow some years – so a snow day was a rare and wondrous part of my childhood. We played outside until Mom got a good long break from being stuck inside with us and we were rewarded with hot chocolate, grilled cheese sandwiches and chicken noodle soup.

We were too busy to feel the cold, but we didn’t freeze to death after spending hours outside. We were actively exploring this temporary new world. We went sledding and made snow angels. For one day, hands-on learning replaced the three Rs – reading, writing and arithmetic. (for those of you who are only familiar with New Math, arithmetic simply means “old math.”) Instead of asynchronous learning, we warmed up in front of the glow of daytime Television. We watched programs we normally didn’t get to see, like steamy scenes between Luke and Laura on General Hospital. There was a man named Bob on a show called The Price is Right and he was giving away jet skis and sporty little AMC Gremlins. It was a glorious time to be alive.

These recent winters we seem to have lots of snow days, because school systems are deathly afraid of lawsuits. Yet, that doesn’t mean kids get to play outside. Remote learning has not only taken all the fun out of the snow day, it has also taken away the wondrous learning you got from being outside. We learned life-long skills on snow days. Building a snowman or igloo taught us valuable engineering skills. Sledding taught us gravity and Newton’s Laws of Motion. Making snow angels was an exercise in creativity, sensory exploration and improving gross motor skills.

Alas, perhaps, it is for the best. What could kids watch inside on a snow day? The View? Trust me. I’ve seen it. You learn absolutely nothing from The View.