10 Tips for Enjoying a Snow Day

Thanks to Heather Rahn, former Director of Be! for her tips.

Sometimes mother nature throws a curveball that reminds us all that we CANNOT control the weather. Things are sometimes out of our control. Days like these can be a nightmare for logistical reasons with the kids off school, appointments needing to be rescheduled, and the inability to reach anyone in an office setting. It can mean conflict at home in managing who will watch the kids and who will have to clean off the family car to go to work or errands. Trapped inside your home with no place to go can be an explosive situation for some families.

Days like these can also be a blessing. A complete reprieve of the daily grind. Rushing from task to task is impossible when you are up against mother nature. Move fast and you are likely to fall harder on the frozen ice or skid right into a moving car. You begin to appreciate the ease of the days when the weather is beautiful. You can take comfort in a cup of hot chocolate and be thankful that you have a roof over your head and heat to warm it.

Every day is an opportunity to choose happy or choose sad/angry. Choose positive or choose negative. Take a look at a child who just found out that their school is closed for the day. It is pure joy and relief. To a child, the emotion of joy is not a choice, it is automatic. The default emotion for them is happy. Unfortunately, many adults have the default emotion of sad/angry/frustrated. I can bet that a few adults could learn from a child to let the default of happy happen.

Tips to enjoy a snow day at home:
1. Parents/adults share your favorite memory of a no school day.
2. Build a blanket fort with the family sofa, a few chairs, and several blankets. Serve dinner underneath.
3. Snuggle time in bed. Each person picks an old movie laying around the house to watch. Popcorn and hot chocolate encouraged.
4. Dance, dance, dance party…bust out those old tapes & cds and shake it.
5. Eat an orange if you have it in the house. Close eyes, pretend  to be in a warm climate. If no oranges in your house, add a straw to a beverage, close eyes, pretend in a warm climate.
6. Take a hot, steamy shower and then put cocoa butter on afterwards…smells like suntan oil. Adult option–bring a friend.
7. Set a timer for quiet time. If you bake cookies, no talking while they are baking. No talking, just reading/writing/coloring by yourself with no talking to anyone else in the house for the set time. Treats for all if you can do it.
8. Email an old friend. Better yet, dig out paper and an envelope and send them a letter/card. Everyone loves to get real mail that isn’t a bill or an ad. Tell them about the storm and what you have been up to since you all got together.
9. Use old magazines & newspapers to create a dream collage of places you want to go, things you want to do, etc. It might just turn into a road map for the coming year.
10. Make a snowman… or send the kids outside to make one. Take a picture and post.

Enjoy the snow!