Well, it finally happened last Friday; there was a genuine snow day at our house… for about an hour. Not complaining because snow fell for only an hour, mind you. After all, The Wife and I got the day off from work and spent the snowy morning with our two granddaughters. Spending time with the granddaughters is always a win, snow or no snow.

Better than ever before, we were well prepared for a three or four-day snow event. Now, sadly, all those preparations seem like a waste of time. Then again, it gave me something to write about this week. Read on, Dear Reader, and you will discover the differences and similarities of a snow day for kids, parents, and grandparents.

Every winter for those seven magical years we spent growing up on that old familiar street not so far away called Flamingo, we kids prayed for snow. Our prayers were answered only once, but I’ve never forgotten that one snow event. And, if asked, my parents would have told you that they too had not forgotten, but they didn’t call it a snow event. They called it an ice storm.

Snow started falling early on Wednesday morning, and we would’ve been happy to be out of school, but we just gotten out for Christmas break the day before. Still, waking up to hearing Twin Brother Mark shouting, “It’s snowing! It’s snowing!” really wasn’t a bad way to start our winter break. Our snow preparations were simple; we had none. Mom and Dad took care of everything. All we had to do was get dressed, eat breakfast, go outside, and hopefully hit the other kids with more snowballs than they hit us.

We’d stayed outside for hours playing in the snow until we eventually couldn’t feel our hands or feet. That’s when it was time to come in, thaw out by the fire Dad had started, and then go back outside to do it all over again. After building three snowmen, a snow fort and defending them from attacks by Down the Street Bully Brad and his gang of three, it was time for lunch.

Mom had homemade tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches ready when we all came in. After thawing out again in front of the fire, we gobbled down lunch and were outside in the snow for another hour. Why just an hour? Around two in the afternoon the snow stopped falling and the sleet started. Can’t make snowballs out of sleet. Before making it back inside, we helped Dad move wood from the woodpile to garage to get ready for the coming ice storm. We all were excited. None of us had ever seen an ice storm before. Mom and Dad didn’t get excited.

Weighed down with ice, power lines fell, and we lost electricity to our house. Some trees bent and eventually snapped under the heavy load of ice. Others toppled and blocked our driveway while another fell and squashed our snowmen. Even the snow fort we’d built after lunch was no match for the ice storm when a pine tree weighed down with ice flattened it.

Including last weekend, I’ve now experienced five ice storms. I hope never to do so again. Snow? Fun. Ice? Not so much.

Unlike kids, parents are not big fans of snow days. Preparations start well in advance of the impending event by watching the five-day weather forecast. As the days tick down, trips to the grocery store increase where milk, eggs, bread, peanut butter and bottled water are bought in abundance. Flashlights are dug out of drawers and checked, trips are made to the hardware store for batteries, a new rechargeable lantern, bags of salt for the sidewalk and driveway, and propane cylinders are refilled. The chain saw chain is sharpened, and a gallon gas can is premixed and ready. Parents’ primary concerns are keeping their children safe, warm, fed, and hopefully entertained – especially if the power goes out.

When a snow day is called at school, someone has to stay home with the kids. Around our house last Friday, The Wife and I filled that role. Being grandparents, we think of snow days a little like parents, but also like kids. We started looking at the five-day forecast, but only when it gets down to day three. Not our first snow or ice event, we know three days are plenty of time to get ready for just about anything – except, of course, kids out of school.

Last Friday was actually my first ever snow “out of school” day. I still made all the responsible adult preparations for the snow/ice event but also got ready for the kid in me to come back out. The visit to the grocery store for all the regular stuff also included fixings for s’mores, and the trip to the hardware store included buying two water boards because all the snow toboggans were sold out. We also bought three snowball maker scoops so little fingers wouldn’t get frozen like they did back on Flamingo.

Sadly, the snow only lasted for an hour at our house before the ice started to fall. But that was still long enough to get pictures of the Girly Girls sliding down the driveway and enjoying a snowball fight with Yours Truly. In all, it was the best snow day ever. The Wife and I didn’t have to go to work, the Girly Girls got the day off from school, and we all got to act like kids again.

I just hope I don’t have to wait until our granddaughters have kids for the next snow day. By then I’ll be a little too old for sliding down the driveway in a water board sled and participating in an epic snowball fight – then again, maybe not.