12 Days of Blog Posts: An LA Version of a Snow Day

There have been many a winter day here in LA when I wished for a snow day. I prayed for snow days growing up in Oregon, hoped that the thermometer would drop over night and the clouds would give way to several inches. I turned on the radio most winter mornings hoping to hear that school was canceled. I didn't get many snow days growing up, but the few I had were some of the most glorious days of fun in the snow, or lazing around the house while looking outside to say, "Wow, it's really coming down out there. Do you think they'll cancel school again?"

Today, on a cold but sunny Southern California morning, David and I woke up late. We'd had a long night with Gabe waking up around 1:30 convinced it was morning. Although he eventually fell back asleep we were both tired and woke up later than usual. But the kids were both dressed for the day and I was about to hop on my bike to head to work when the text messages started coming in.

LAUSD schools may be closed today.

I couldn't believe it. I was getting a snow day.

David took the kids to daycare and I watched the news for long enough to realize that there was very little to report. So we started to take care of all those last minute errands: shopped for gifts, mailed the holiday cards, and finished the baking. We checked off our list of to-dos and didn't even have to worry about shoveling the driveway or putting on chains.

I am incredibly thankful that the threat posed ended up being empty. But I admit, I found the timing suspicious. Was some super-smart calculus student out there pulling a prank because he didn't want to take a final? And then, partly in jest, I wondered if closing LAUSD schools, (Because they NEVER close) meant the terrorists had won. David and I joked about what trouble our students might be up to home alone on a snow day, and we wondered about this new normal: where school gets cancelled due to threats.

I guess this is the world we live in, one where threats are taken seriously and I appreciate the caution. Even though I have lots to do when I get back to school tomorrow, I'm thankful I'm safe and breathing, and one day closer to winter vacation.

Here's a snow day excerpt from Through Eyes Like Mine.