3 Reasons Parents Dread School Breaks and Snow Days

I love my girls.  I love them more than anything on the face of the planet, and generally enjoy spending time with them.  So why am I blogging about dreading school breaks and snow days?

They fight. 

Constantly.  Their bickering starts at the break of dawn and doesn’t end until they’re so exhausted from nit-picking all day that they pass smooth out on their pillows mid-mumble. 

Okay, not really – but if you’re a parent you’ll understand the hyperbole, considering that sibling arguments can be ignited simply by something so small as one child happening to glance in the general direction at the other.  It goes something like this:

“STOP STARING AT ME!”

“I wasn’t staring at you, I was looking at –“

“GAH!”  Stomp, stomp, slam.

“OH MY GOSH, UGH!”  Stomp, stomp, slam.

“STOP COPYING ME!”

… and of course, you intervene, but your brain is still so confused at the randomness and instant escalation that you can only respond with equally random things.   You’re not really even sure why you’re scolding your children, you’re pretty much just reacting to the raised voices and slamming doors, so you don’t get much beyond that initial reaction, most often (for me, anyway), “Enough!” 

You threaten to separate them, but apparently even as annoying as they find each other, one can’t seem to function for a full day without the other.  This threat results in a hysterical panic that straightens them both out long enough for you to get distracted by whatever it is you’re doing that day, only to find yourself listening to yet another bout of “let’s see who can be more randomly hormonal.”

*Sigh*

…and the reason for panic at the suggestion of separation?  You guessed it, number 2 on the list of reasons parents dread school breaks and snow days: 

“I’m bored.” 

It took a full hour on the first day my girls were out of school for Christmas break before my oldest daughter flopped down on the couch looking forlorn, heavy sighing several times to drive the point home. 

I know, I timed it.

I knew what was coming, but asked her what was wrong anyway.  She fingered the throw pillow pitifully and sighed, “I’m bored.”

Sure, because the contents of your room that together cost more than the house we’re living in are just there for show.  It’s not like we don’t have a full library of books, enough movies to open our own video store, enough toys to stock four separate daycares, or more video game consoles than I ever dreamed of having as a child.

But I didn’t remind her of this; instead I offered to let her help me fold laundry and scrub kitchen grout.

She suddenly remembered a book she had gotten recently and hadn’t had the time to begin reading, and retreated before I could dig the cleaning gloves out from beneath the sink.

The final reason that breaks and snow days are dreaded?  

They get whiny. 

This year so far, we had almost a full week of snow days because everything was pretty literally encased in ice and the roads (being in Oklahoma) were closed to everyone except the workers trying to keep or restore power to residents.

The first day was alright; there’s something special about snow days, being able to play hooky without getting caught, curling up on the couch with your family and watching old movies while you sip hot chocolate.  After that first day, with everyone stuck in the house with each other, cabin fever starts to set in a little. 

Everyone gets cranky.  Those random, nonsensical arguments?  I’m not proud to admit it, but during this time, Levi and I were just as prone to doing it as the girls were.  It’s not natural for a family to be completely cooped up with each other for extended periods of time, and we all reacted with shades of  the beginning stages of psychosis, mumbling and grumbling through normal, every-day tasks and glaring at each other as we contemplated the idea of just how long we would be stuck in that house together.

As such, the girls got extra whiny.  Normal, polite requests were responded to with exaggerated grief, “I’m bored” was a consistent theme, and God help you if you suggested they go play in their rooms for a while. 

Despite all this, the icing on the cake was my girls’ reaction when the roads cleared up and it was announced that school would be back in session the next day:   

“Ah man, back to school already??”