Snow Day, Southern Style

SNOW! Yes, it's a big deal when you live in the South. It rarely snows and when it does everything shuts down-- schools, stores and roads. If you're not from South it can be hard to understand the craziness of running out to the grocery store to stock up on bread and milk as soon as the weather man predicts snow. We just don't have the tools to handle snow. We have limited plows, salt, brine, etc. Our town's not going to spend money on snow gear if there's only a small possibility we might use it once a year. It's just safer, and of course more fun to just close shop and call it a Snow Day!

The predication of snow, a lot of snow came on Monday. The weather reporters were really talking it up. I was getting winter weather notifications on my phone, 3-5 inches by Tuesday afternoon and then at least a foot by Wednesday morning. Needless to say they closed school on Tuesday with the intent of keeping kids home and not rushing out of school when the snow started falling, getting on the bus, carpool and making it home safe. Have you seen the problems they encountered in Atlanta ? A similar incidence happened in Raleigh about nine years ago- 2005 Snow Storm. Wake County Schools will never let that happen again.

So with snow expected to fall around noon on Tuesday and the kids out of school, we went to the grocery store and stocked up on chicken nuggets and hot chocolate then met our friends at Chick-fil-A for lunch and playtime. The moms and I chit-chatted about all things, it was nice getting out before we got snowed in. The kids eagerly talked about the snow, sledding and when was it going to the snow. The sun even peeked out for a bit making us wonder if it would really snow.


Our playdate came to an end and we headed back home. I put my little man, Liam down for his nap, made a big Crock Pot batch of chili, sat down to write and the waiting began. For the next 5 hours, my oldest son, Aiden kept asking me about every 10 minutes, "When is it going to Snow?" I kept looking at my phone, checking the weather. It kept showing 100% chance of snow at 4 p.m. 4 o'clock came and still no snow. The asking came more frequently and my patience was growing thin. A whole day, no school and no snow-- a major snow day fail.

Around 7 p.m., the snow began to fall. It covered the streets and sidewalks first. It made sledding perfect on our neighbor's sloped driveway. Aiden and I ventured over there for some late night sledding. Our circle sled worked great as we zoomed down the hill across the street and nearly in the other neighbor's yard. We called it a night around 9 p.m. and went inside for a hot shower and P.J.'s.

We woke up Wednesday to a winter wonderland, and needless to say it was a snow day for all. The boys were excited that daddy would be home too. Before we even ate breakfast, we donned our snow gear and headed outside to find the best spot to sled. Our sloped backyard made a perfect sled run. We all took turns sledding before heading in for breakfast. Our day consisted of sledding and intermittent breaks, and after lunch everyone was ready for a nap. After a long winter's nap, we went back outside for our last snow expedition of the day. Our sled had cracked down the middle, so it was time to build a snowman. The snow still had a powdery consistency so we packed a hill of snow, stuck in some stick arms and eyes and Ta-Da, it's Olaf from Frozen.

With frozen noses, hands and toes we headed back inside to warm-up with macaroni and cheese, left-over chili and hot chocolate. We snuggled on the couch and watched The Polar Express. It was a fantastic way to end our snow day.

                                                                    *********

I would love to hear about your snow day adventure. Comment below and post pics on Instagram tagged #ftmsnowday.