Giving Props to the Snow Day

Please spare me the "I told you so's".

Lately, I've been mouthing off on the silliness of two hour delays and giving snow days from school for a mere 5 inches of snow.

Give me a bit of a break. In the 6 years that I've had a kid in school (which includes three years of pre-school, for they always followed the district's decision to either delay or close when it came to snow), I NEVER experienced a delay or a snow day.

Seriously.

Never.

Now, however, I'm living in Beaver, where delays can happen if temperatures reach zero, and snow days occur on days like today with only 5 inches of snow on the ground. This is new to me. Especially the part about delaying school when the temperature plummets. And, well, I've been pretty vocal about how ridiculous I think this is.

And yet, today, on my first snow day since I was in school myself (back in Northern VA where we were known to be delayed for a mere 2 inches), I experienced a snow day.

Um, it was glorious.

Harper, Zane, and I shared the day with my neighbor and her daughter at another girlfriend's house. For hours. We broke in our hostess's new juicer (back off, it was cool), had a fabulous lunch, drank coffee (you are surprised?), played with make-up (we're girls), and enjoyed having all our kids play together in the snow and around the house.

It kind of goes along with one of my personal goals for the year. The one about spending more time investing in relationships with people rather than being so caught up in the "have to's" and "must do's" that have invaded my life in the past. Yes, I was once a slave to the schedule - chime in if you KNOW it to be true. It's ok. Won't hurt me. Now, I barely check my calendar.

It's been awhile since I've experienced having my kids just play for hours at a friend's house without the formality of a scheduled play-date. I mentioned that to my girlfriend today and she replied with something like, "Well, that's just the way we roll here."

Way to quote the Jonas Brothers.

I am convinced that the chaotic lives that many lead, as I once did, are contributing to the lost art of being able to just hang out with friends without the assistance of a scheduled event, or party, or earlier agreed upon date. We totally did this when younger - you know, in that kid's basement - for hours, just sitting around yapping. And, in college, where spontaneous dorm room gatherings just popped up naturally. But now, with so much to do, and so many places to be, we don't experience the pure joy that is a "pop-over". (Although, for the record, I called first.)

Here I thought our time in Evanston was so spontaneous, and surprisingly, it wasn't. Our lifestyle was partially to blame, (mainly overscheduled), and sadly, we only truly realized this in 2008 when we first learned we'd be moving. We thus made a concentrated effort to spend time with the people in our lives, starting with a 2009 New Year's Day gathering - for at that point, we knew what other's didn't. That we were moving. It took a life changing adventure to change our goals. And now, our desire was to spend quality time with our friends every week. We've since kept up that practice.

So, thanks snow day.

Thanks for the fresh apple/clementine/grapefruit/carrot juice, the conversation, the sledding, the coffee (oh, the coffee), eye shadow, and relearning the beauty of just hanging out with no agenda, no plans, and no expectations other than just enjoying the warmth of new friends. Both mine, and those of my children.

How about another snow day next Wednesday?

Maybe?