SNOW DAY

It was first thing in the morning when I sat down at my dining room table, moved my tea cup out of the way, and opened up my laptop.

My son Alex came into the room. “What are you up to today?” he asked.

I took a sip of my tea as I pointed to my screen waiting for it to warm up. “Getting ready to go into my first Google meet.”

Alex looked out the dining room window at the snow that was still coming down hard. “I guess that’s the end of snow days for you this year.”

“Yup.” I began to type in my password. “It’s kind of silly to have a snow day when you’re virtual.”

My school district decided to have everyone on virtual until at least the middle of January.

“How’s the virtual thing going?” he asked as he went into the kitchen to get something to eat.

I’d just gotten into my first class, which happened to be a group of kindergartners. I had my camera off and my microphone on mute as I looked around at the array of faces looking at their screens.

It was hard not to just shake your head in disbelief at the students who were still in their pajamas, some still eating their breakfast. Others were clutching stuff animals or wrapped in their favorite blanket. A few had Santa hats on while one had a pair of light up Christmas tree glasses. They were all busy talking to one another while they waited for all the students to join the meet.

“It’s going about as good as you’d expect with little ones when it’s only a week before Christmas and it’s a snow day.” I watched as one of the students did a back flip on her living room couch. “Well, I have to say, that was impressive.”

I got up to go into the kitchen to get another cup of tea. “I think at this point we’re all just happy they’re coming to class. Nobody is saying anything about dress codes or don’t bring toys to your work space or how about we don’t play with our pets when you’re at virtual school.”

Alex looked down at my pajama pants and slippers. “Maybe you might want to look into the dress code yourself.”

“Hey!” I pointed to my button down shirt and sweater. “I put on make-up! I’ve done my hair!” I looked down at my slippers. “No one sees me from the waist down so as far as they know I got dressed for school.”

Alex laughed as he went into the refrigerator to get the milk. “Whatever you need to tell yourself.”

I shrugged my shoulders. “You know I usually put on pants when we’re virtual.” I looked out the window watching the snow come down ever faster than before and sighed. “But if we were physically in school we’d have today off.” I wiggled my toes in my fur lined slippers. “This makes me feel better about not having a snow day.”

I could hear the teacher telling the students it was time to put themselves on mute. That class was about to start. “It’s time to start school.” I said as I headed back to the dining room table.

“Hey, don’t you usually make hot chocolate on a snow day?” Alex said as he reached into the cabinet and brought out the box of hot chocolate mix.

I smiled as I pointed to the screen. “I was planning on making it when they take their snack break. Do you want one?”

“Sure.” Alex headed back to his room. “Call me when it’s snack time.”