It snowed last night. A substantial amount of snow is expected between now and tomorrow morning at 5 a.m. Therefore, our school district declared today a snow day. Not a flexible instruction day (That’s the plan for tomorrow if another day off is needed.) allowing the kids learn remotely and asynchronously. Today is a real snow day.
We’ll go out and play in the snow — sledding and snow castles — later today. But for now, we are lounging in our pajamas. The kids are watching “The Jetsons Movie” and I’m reading Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld. Maybe we’ll bake later… maybe we won’t. Maybe they’ll play in the fort Marc and Ari built last night… maybe they won’t. All I care about right now is having a low-key snow day. It’s 9:40 a.m. and I think we’re well on our way to mastering the low-key thing.
Don’t ask me why Ari is sitting on our coffee table. (That’s something he does that I will never understand!) I mean, there’s a perfectly good fort set up for him to lay in and more than enough couch to lounge on. But, NO, he chooses the coffee table for movie viewing.Head over to Two Writing Teachers on Tuesday to read more of slice of life stories.
I am a literacy consultant who focuses on writing workshop. I've been working with K-6 teachers and students since 2009. Prior to that, I was a fourth and fifth-grade teacher in New York City and Rhode Island.
I'm the author of Craft Moves (Stenhouse Publishers, 2016) and the co-author of Jump Into Writing (Zaner-Bloser, 2021), Welcome to Writing Workshop (Stenhouse Publishers, 2019), and Day By Day (Stenhouse, 2010).
I live in Central Pennsylvania with my husband and children. In my free time, I enjoy swimming, doing Pilates, cooking, baking, making ice cream, and reading novels.
View all posts by Stacey Shubitz
The beauty of a real snow day. We had one too, but it was slightly tainted by the possibility of a remote learning day being called for tomorrow… which ended up happening. It sucked a bit of the joy from the “real snow day.” I hope your joy lasted all day!
Snow days are so much fun for children. I liked the way you told your story. “Maybe we’ll… maybe we won’t .” That’s the way the snow day should be. I wish I could have enjoyed mine more but I was under the weather since the weekend and it was too cold to even peek outside. Long Island was blasted by the end of the day and I think there is more to come. I chronicled the day in my slice.
Couldn’t help laughing at your son on the cofee table. So similar to mine. I love the cosy vibe of your room. I hope you had a wonderful day playing in the snow, baking and cuddling up.
I hope the day was relaxing and reminiscent of snow days of old, Stacey! What a storm, eh? I’m so happy you got to enjoy a snow day WITH your kids! My district called the snow day yesterday while my kids had to learn remotely; today I have to teach remotely while they enjoy a snow day. Sigh. Love this line in your slice: “…I think we’re well on our way to mastering the low-key thing.”
“The Jetsons Movie” oh my goodness this was my 2nd favorite non-Disney movie when I was little. I still love the way they animated the song “You & Me.” Enjoy this snow day. My district used their final one last Monday. Yesterday and today are being spent teaching remotely. I really wish we still had snow days. Just because we have the ability to teach remotely doesn’t mean we should.
I also woke up to a good ol’ fashioned snow day….and, because of some weird local game of chicken, our district was one of the last to call it, so I was ready to tackle the day long before I realized there was nothing to tackle!
Up here in the great white north we technically NEVER get snow days, if you can believe that. Schools are open unless a city-wide emergency is declared & I’ve sent the kids tromping to school through many inches of snow. I’m pretty sure they arrive wet & cold but happy. I’ve been teaching here for 13 years and so far that’s happened twice, so I really envy your low-key snow day. (That said, we’ve been known to declare a family hooky day after a particularly beautiful snow or when the conditions are perfect for skating on the canal. Not quite as rare as a snow day, but still not often enough for the kids.)
Nothing like a real, low key snow day! Who knew we’d have to define snow days as real a year ago! At this time last year, a snow day was just a snow day — and now, it’s a real snow day! We had one, too and it was glorious! Love the pic!
Low key is so key right now. Hope it was all smooth sailing. I puttered through tasks on my to do list and did a little baking while a stew simmered in the slow cooker. Pajamas all day. Never loved a snow day more. Perhaps because it will be our last.
Snow days are Mother Nature’s way of saying “slow down because this will be gone soon”. The empty nest snow days are very low key, but not the same as the excitement of running back and forth outside doing exactly what you did: building snowmen, sledding, romping around with the dogs. The smell of soup or cookies or bread or whatever warming the house and an afternoon of movies and napping.
Raising Literate Humans 
The beauty of a real snow day. We had one too, but it was slightly tainted by the possibility of a remote learning day being called for tomorrow… which ended up happening. It sucked a bit of the joy from the “real snow day.” I hope your joy lasted all day!
Snow days are so much fun for children. I liked the way you told your story. “Maybe we’ll… maybe we won’t .” That’s the way the snow day should be. I wish I could have enjoyed mine more but I was under the weather since the weekend and it was too cold to even peek outside. Long Island was blasted by the end of the day and I think there is more to come. I chronicled the day in my slice.
Couldn’t help laughing at your son on the cofee table. So similar to mine. I love the cosy vibe of your room. I hope you had a wonderful day playing in the snow, baking and cuddling up.
I hope the day was relaxing and reminiscent of snow days of old, Stacey! What a storm, eh? I’m so happy you got to enjoy a snow day WITH your kids! My district called the snow day yesterday while my kids had to learn remotely; today I have to teach remotely while they enjoy a snow day. Sigh. Love this line in your slice: “…I think we’re well on our way to mastering the low-key thing.”
“The Jetsons Movie” oh my goodness this was my 2nd favorite non-Disney movie when I was little. I still love the way they animated the song “You & Me.” Enjoy this snow day. My district used their final one last Monday. Yesterday and today are being spent teaching remotely. I really wish we still had snow days. Just because we have the ability to teach remotely doesn’t mean we should.
I love all the maybes in this piece. They capture the true feel of a snow day.
I also woke up to a good ol’ fashioned snow day….and, because of some weird local game of chicken, our district was one of the last to call it, so I was ready to tackle the day long before I realized there was nothing to tackle!
Up here in the great white north we technically NEVER get snow days, if you can believe that. Schools are open unless a city-wide emergency is declared & I’ve sent the kids tromping to school through many inches of snow. I’m pretty sure they arrive wet & cold but happy. I’ve been teaching here for 13 years and so far that’s happened twice, so I really envy your low-key snow day. (That said, we’ve been known to declare a family hooky day after a particularly beautiful snow or when the conditions are perfect for skating on the canal. Not quite as rare as a snow day, but still not often enough for the kids.)
Nothing like a real, low key snow day! Who knew we’d have to define snow days as real a year ago! At this time last year, a snow day was just a snow day — and now, it’s a real snow day! We had one, too and it was glorious! Love the pic!
Sounds amazing!! Snow days here are regular school days but with fewer students. I would love a surprise day off.
Low key is so key right now. Hope it was all smooth sailing. I puttered through tasks on my to do list and did a little baking while a stew simmered in the slow cooker. Pajamas all day. Never loved a snow day more. Perhaps because it will be our last.
Snow days are Mother Nature’s way of saying “slow down because this will be gone soon”. The empty nest snow days are very low key, but not the same as the excitement of running back and forth outside doing exactly what you did: building snowmen, sledding, romping around with the dogs. The smell of soup or cookies or bread or whatever warming the house and an afternoon of movies and napping.
Thank you for warming my heart! 🙂