This has been an odd winter. It’s been colder than normal here in eastern Pennsylvania, and while we have had more winter weather events than you can shake a stick at, they never amount to much. New England keeps getting dumped on, and even the Southern states seem to be getting fairly significant snow accumulations, but every storm seems to go right around us, leaving us with a dusting of a mere inch or two. I’m not complaining. It’s just enough to keep it pretty but not enough to slow us down too much.

But today we are finally getting our snow. It’s still nothing that will go down in the history books, but we are expecting 4 to 6 inches. School has already been cancelled, and the kids are THRILLED.

I live in a newish neighborhood comprised mostly of young families with kids, and there’s nothing like a snow storm to bring everyone out of winter hibernation. Three streets in the development back up to a large common area/drainage basin that creates nice sledding area where everyone congregates with their sleds and saucers when it snows. They will play out there for HOURS. Then inevitably, at some point, everyone will tire of the cold, and they’ll traipse off into various houses, where they will drop their wet snow gear and demand hot chocolate and popcorn. We couldn’t be more stereotypical suburbia if we tried.

I have a love/hate relationship with snow days. On the one hand, it’s hard not to get caught up in the excitement. When the kids wake up and see the snow, their exuberance will rival that of Christmas morning. But as the day wears on, and my foyer becomes a glut of soggy snow clothes, and the kitchen counters collect the remnants of hot chocolate and pancake batter and the crumbs and spills that accompany children nearing the age of independence, and my work goals for the day seem more and more elusive, I will begin to wonder why I didn’t move south years ago.

So I’m sitting here, enjoying my second cup of coffee and the last few minutes of silence as I revise my to-do list in hopes of making it more realistic given the unexpected “holiday” that has been thrust upon us. I know that one day, I will look back on this hectic season of life and say that it was fleeting, and I will instruct the young moms coming up behind me in the ranks to enjoy it because it won’t last forever. But we all know, when you’re in the trenches, there’s nothing fleeting about it.

I guess all we can do is go with the flow… roll with the punches… grin and bear it… and all that jazz. I might as well forget accomplishing anything of substance today and just resign myself to running interference and cleaning up the aftermath.

In light of all that, I thought I’d share a few of my favorite snow day activities and recipes.

• 10 EASY Wintertime Crafts for Kids
• 5 Winter Weather Activities to do with Little Kids (easy and FREE!)
• Perfect Homemade Pancakes (snow days are meant for pancakes!)
• Homemade Hot Cocoa (you’ll never go back to the packets!)
• Hot Caramel (for those who can’t have chocolate…)
• Homemade Peppermint Latte (for the adults)
• Homemade Popcorn (no microwave needed)
• Tomato Soup Recipe (they’ll need a hot lunch to keep ’em going all day!)
• Classic Cosmo Recipe (for Happy Hour… cuz you earned it!)

How about you? How do you survive snow days??