Let’s All Take a Snow Day
Last Thursday, we experienced the biggest snowstorm we’ve had in Massachusetts in five years. Our house got 18” of snow while other towns received even more accumulation. In a normal year, this would result in a “snow day” and a chance for kids to have a day off. However, with virtual learning, most communities had decided at the beginning of the school year that there would be no need to “close” during inclement weather since kids could still login from home. This seemed like a reasonable declaration in September. But it felt like a terrible idea when the first snow began to fall... and the Jefferson County School system in Virginia agreed. This is an excerpt from the email that parents received last Wednesday evening in anticipation of the storm:
For generations, families have greeted the first snow day of the year with joy. It is a time of renewed wonder at all the beautiful things that each season holds. For these reasons and more, Jefferson County Schools will be completely closed tomorrow. Closed for students. Closer for virtual. Closed for staff. It has been a year of seemingly endless loss, and the stress of trying to make up for that loss. For just a moment, let’s let go of trying to make up for the many things we missed, and make sure this is one thing our kids won’t lose this year. Enjoy a day of sledding and hot chocolate. Take pictures of your kids in snow hats they will outgrow by next year. We will return to the serious and urgent business of school on Friday, but for tomorrow... go build a snowman!
I thought that letter—and approach—was awesome. And many cities and towns did the same. It’s the little things that mean the most right now, isn’t it? We’ve all had to break traditions, maybe even break some rules, and figure out how to move forward. Sure, we aren’t experiencing our Hanukkah or Christmas traditions the way we normally would. But what can we do to still make it feel special? I posed this question to many of you, and got some creative responses:
One family shared that they go to their aunt’s house for Christmas Eve every year for traditional Italian dinner. This year, their aunt wisely chose not to have all 30 of them come for sit-down dinner. But she’s still cooking all the food. She’s packaging to-go platters for everyone, and they have to pick up their dinner between 2-4pm on Thursday in her driveway. Cooking makes her so happy, so she’s sticking with her tradition of making all the familiar dishes. And the family is so grateful that they can still enjoy her delicious food safely.
Another family shared that they always gather after dinner on Christmas Day once all the festivities are over, and watch the movie Elf together. This year, they rented a local movie theater for a private showing of it. For $100, they are allowed to have 20 guests in a theater that normally holds 350 people, and they are going to keep the Elf tradition going. Twenty of them are putting on their Christmas pajamas and going to the movies together on Friday night with no other guests but themselves.
On Monday, I drove over to a local shopping plaza. Tucked in the corner of the parking lot in front of Starbucks was a group of 12 people. They were sitting in a circle with their Starbucks coffees, folding chairs and blankets—far away from each other and all of them in masks. In the middle of their circle was a folding table with a holiday tablecloth and a pile of wrapped gifts. Turns out, it was a local group of office workers having their traditional Secret Santa gift exchange— this year outdoors instead of at work. They’ve been all working virtually, and Monday was the first time they had all seen each other in person in 10 months. They wanted to keep the Secret Santa tradition alive.
Several families have already started planning for Christmas in July. Although they’ve canceled all festivities for this week, they are instead going all-out for a celebration in the warmer weather— gifts and decorations and Santa included— when it’s safe to do so.
Whatever you are doing this week, I hope you will take time to enjoy the little things. Love the ones you’re with, and send some virtual hugs to those who aren’t able to be with you in person. I also want to give a special shout-out to all our physician clients who bravely received the vaccine this week: Thank you for your courage and bravery, and not just this week but these past 10 months as well).
