As children, we all looked forward to snow days. We stayed up late, watched the snow, urged it to fall faster and heavier, and wished for a snow day with all our might. We woke up early, turned on the radio (yes, the radio), waited with bated breath to hear our school’s name announced, and we cheered when they finally cycled back to the “B” schools and we heard what we’d been waiting our whole entire life for, a snow day.

As a teacher, eh, not much has changed, except now we wait for the phone to ring, or the chiming of our email. Gotta love a snow day, amiright?

How to Snow Day Like an Art Teacher

• Grab your slipperiest socks and get all Risky Business up in here. Slip and slide yourself around the house, because OMG!!! Snow day!!! White button-up shirt optional.
• Bond with the neighborhood children over the SNOW DAY!!! Pull on your snow pants, your mittens, and your puffball hat, and let your inner elementary school child run wild. Trample through the virgin snow, and climb the tallest snowbank. Fly down the playground slide into a four foot pile of snow, and lay down in the middle of the deserted street and make snow angels.
• Torment the neighborhood children with talk of returning to school the next day. Because it’s just good fun, and you’re a teacher, so you must have the inside scoop.
• Meet new people in your neighborhood. Snow days bring hibernating people out of their caves and into the streets. It’s a great time to meet your neighbors. You know, the people you’ve lived next to for the last three years but have never actually spoken to? Find the ones you have something in common with and commiserate with them over common gripes. That music teacher a few houses down would love to bitch about his lousy classroom this year.
• Offend your neighbors. When your new neighbor friend mentions that she and her family left a particular southern state, be sure to mention that your cousin is leaving that state as well. Explain that your cousin isn’t happy with the school systems down there. Prepare for the awkward moment when your neighbor tells you she used to be a teacher down there and didn’t leave by choice (her husband was relocated).

• Wear the same clothes from yesterday. Heck, wear those clothes again tomorrow too. After all, you only have one pair of long johns, one pair of really comfy sweat pants, and one pair of wool socks, and everyone knows these are a snow day outfit must. Be sure to change your shirt and underwear daily.
• Attempt to engage your family members in art making activities. Repeat every 30 minutes until they finally cave and paint a picture with you.
• Insist that your household do something with you. When the art making is done, insist that your family members play a game with you, or go for a walk, or go play in the snow, again. Express disbelief at how content they are just sitting and playing quietly. Consider setting the smoke detectors off for a little excitement, “single file, not talking during the fire drill…”
• Walk, walk, walk. Just get up and walk. All the time, be walking. Walk laps around the kitchen. Walk to the mailbox, twice. Walk to the basement and up to the bedroom and back down to the living room. Do it again. And again. Walk just to walk because oh my goodness how do people sit still all day!?

• Spend hours updating your blog. Pick a new layout. Change up your font. Try a new theme. Try a different theme.
• Mock everyone who posts snow day pictures to Instagram. Proceed to post snow day pictures to Instagram. It’s okay, because you already mocked it, so now it’s ironic. Or hypocritical. I don’t know, could go either way, but who cares? It’s a SNOW DAY!!! Post as many #snowgrams as you want.

Don’t forget to follow Art Teachers Hate Glitter on Instagram. I promise, there aren’t any snow day pictures on there. Yet.

Did you have snow days this week? What did you do to fill the time?