When I was younger, I absolutely loved snow days. A snow day meant I could sleep in or spend time outside building a snowman with my brothers. I was a snow angel and I loved simply walking through the woods enjoying how crisp and beautiful everything was when covered in snow. 

When my teens were younger and had to be constantly supervised, I both loved and dreaded these days. It meant I either had to stay home from work or pay the before/after school sitter a lot more to keep three kids all day. Sometimes it was cheaper to call off work!

Now though, my kids are all old enough to be left home alone. I have no excuse to stay home when I hear the squeals of delight and dread coming from the remote corners of our little house, but that does not mean that I don’t still take advantage of it and stay home sometimes.

My son that is in the seventh grade loves snow days because he gets to play video games while I am gone. I know that he will sleep in late, eat Ramen noodles for every meal and never get out of his pajamas. He won't think twice about going outside! 

Last week when it snowed, he decided he wanted to earn some extra cash, so he threw a pair of jeans over his pajama pants. According to him, this technique keeps him warm. He grabbed the snow shovel and headed down the road. He came back a few hours later with $14. I used this new-found excitement to talk to him about saving versus wasting his money. He has decided that he wants to open a savings account so he will less tempted to spend the money, when he really wants a new video game.

My son that is a high school freshman does not like snow days because it means there is one more day he doesn’t get to see his girlfriend. They have been together since the Alice in Wonderland movies came out around March. He loves sleeping in and watching movies all day, but would rather be where he can spend time with his friends, even if that means he has to be at school.

My daughter that is a high school junior does not like the idea of missing school. She has a “six of one, half dozen of the other” attitude. On one hand, she always loves to sleep in and relax. On the other, it means that she now has one less day to prepare for the upcoming musical, a day off means her Advanced Placement class is even more accelerated, or she is fearful she will get less time to review for an upcoming test. She's the one  I always have to tell to chill out. Sometimes it works and well...sometimes it doesn't.

Often, the roads clear up later in the day, and it is safe to venture out, but we still decide to take the time to enjoy each other. We have found this is a good time to catch up on what is going on in each other’s lives while we walk around at St. Louis Mills Mall.  The boys love to drool over every new game at GameStop, then my daughter gets lost in Books-a-Million and I just enjoy spending time with them. 

I know it won’t be very long until I am wandering aimlessly around the mall by myself, reminiscing and wishing for these good old snow days, so be sure to take advantage of the snow and have family time. If you have younger children, play some inexpensive board games like Checkers, or Uno. Children at all ages love to experiment with cooking. Show them what they can do in the kitchen that they didn't realize, or just hang out and watch a movie. I guarantee it will be one of the best times you've ever had.