During this month of January, we have been really lucky to say that we have had two plentiful snowstorms that have provided us with beautiful scenery, lovely snowmen, snow angels, and even a day off from school. Whenever I think of a snow day, I look forward to all the rituals my family and I partake in.

With the recent storms we’ve had, the snow has begun in the middle of the night and continued into mid-morning or late afternoon. I know that when I go to bed the night before a snow storm, I will wake up to a precious, yet cold bedroom with a window completely covered in white, fluffy dust. I immediately rush down the hall, sit on the sofa in the living room, and take a few minutes just to relax and enjoy the views from our picture window. 

Whenever there is an impending weather advisory, my mom always travels to our local market to stock up on the necessary “New England essentials” as we like to call them: bread, milk, peanut butter, and jelly. In case of any emergency, these could get you through a couple of days without a trip to the store. When we know that the storm won’t be so bad though, my mom stocks up on my favorite snow day foods: French toast, chicken noodle soup, hot cocoa, tea, and, of course, lots of whipped cream. After I have taken my picturesque pause at my window, I know that during my “morning wake up,” I will have a cup of coffee, eat my mom’s famous French toast, and possibly watch a HGTV or Food Network show (Gotta love Hillary Farr and David Visentin on Love it or List it though!)

Following my delicious breakfast, I move on to the most dreaded part of snow days for every child across America: homework. If most of us know that we will be having a snow day on a weekday, we can leave the homework we had planned for the night to our dedicated day off. There are two things that get me through that AP Euro textbook reading, Tale of Two Cities, and those chemistry bonding worksheets: 1) I have a window overlooking my beautiful street with all the gorgeous snow and 2) I plan a break during the day where I know that I will be able to get outside to enjoy it all.

For all the years that I have been alive to enjoy the “New England” snow, my family and I have always made time during our snowy days at home to enjoy each other’s company, with maybe a little added competition. With our maybe not-so-recent concept of “zooming” into classes, meetings, activities, etc. during periods when we are at home, it may seem like we can’t ever catch a break. On days like these, I interrupt my parents for a brief moment to ask them: “What times are you free today?” Each parent responds with a couple of options, we figure out a convenient time, and we go about our day awaiting the opportunity when we will all be able to be together. Some activities that the Novack family loves to do in the snow are sledding, “snow walks,” snow angels, snowball fights, snowmen making, and of course the thing that Mr. Novack always dreads: shoveling. When I was little, my dad was taking a walk with me on my sled, and a photographer from the newspaper snapped our picture. My dad loves it so much that it is on his bureau to look at whenever he walks by.

When the work of the day is done, whether it be schoolwork, professional work, or snow work, we always love to settle in by a roaring Mr. Novack fire with a fresh cup of cocoa (with loads of whipped cream). We play games and watch a silly show or movie. I do have to personally say that I always beat my family at Clue. For some reason, my strategic, tactical, focused self comes alive, and I almost always win. My mom almost always wins at checkers, though. No matter what day, hour, second, or minute, she always shows up with her A Game and wipes the floor with the competition. Maybe I’ll watch some YouTube videos to beef up my skills for the next snow day…

While some elements of a snow day can be viewed as taxing, tiresome, elongated periods of cold, I always look forward to the amazing quality time I can spend with my family doing all of our favorite traditions. In the next coming months of winter, I hope that all of you enjoy your snow days. May they be filled with lots of fun, hard work, and time spent with family!

Kate Novack ’24, Features Editor

24knovack@montroseschool.org