“So..what did you do on your Snow Day growing up?”
Snow Pit, South Boston, MA. 2015. Courtesy Bill McKay
It was a challenge on a local classic rock radio station. He pointed out the obvious. We had no electronic distraction at the time.
There were no home computers, no video games, no smart phones or iPods.
The only movies available were those god-awful 8mm reels of family holidays and vacations.
There were only 3 TV stations, which had not yet caught up with daytime programming for children. The soaps were in black and white, and to a child, mostly sad and confusing.
There were board games, which only lasted for as long as you could tolerate your siblings.
We could have opened a book; maybe too much adrenaline for that. Snowstorms were exciting.
So….we went outside. In the cold, the snow, the freezing rain, whatever.
It was made clear that once we were trapped in the winter garb, snowsuits and rubber boots, that we were not to return…for a very long time.
And we did not, not even for lunch. No parent came looking for us.
The snow was pure entertainment. We built snowmen and threw snowballs. Some painted it yellow.
We sledded and skated and rolled down any incline. They even blocked off traffic for us on a hilly side road.
We tunneled through snow piles, dug out cave-like shelters, built a fort.
We made pathways in the woods that didn’t exist before.
We came home exhausted, tears in our eyes, beet-red faced. There were chapped lips, tracks of frozen nose emissions, icy fingertips, hair frozen to our knit caps.
If we were lucky, and there were no police reports, there was a pot of hot chocolate and a bowl of marshmallows lying in wait.
It was glorious.
vanbytheriver 
Gee, this might be what those ‘good old days’ were like
Our forts were not nearly this big. And…if we’d only had Fire !!!
Ah, yes. I remember those days. Today’s kids are missing out.
We’re raising “indoor kids”. Technology has made us sedentary.
Technology has advanced us in some ways, but has created “indoor kids”. Too bad.
Sorry, I was just outside, and the cold has me repeating myself ! Van
It was glorious, Van. Being so cold not able to feel your toes or cheeks. Red cheeked and exhilarated from digging through mountains of snow, making forts. Ice skating on the pond in the back our house. Playing until dark, and then even more. Frozen, cold, lips blue, but still wanted more outside. Oh yes, those were the days! Did your mom ever put plastic bags inside your boots in an attempt to keep your feet warm? LOL Our boots had NO insulation, that I remember. Wow! Were we tough or what? (((HUGS))) Amy
No, no insulation in those rubber boots, Amy, and if they had a zipper, it would freeze. We were tough, or maybe just weather-seasoned. And why no frostbite ?? It was warm inside those snow caves, though, even without fire.
Nope, never any frostbite. We were moving all the time! It did get warm inside those caves, come to think of it. A few times I was a bit concerned the roof caving in and getting buried alive. That still did not stop me from digging. LOL I remember those zippers. Those boots were so not easy to get off. And everything so wet as well! LOL What memories!!!
Thanks for playing, Amy. ☺
And thank YOU for playing, too, Van. It has made the both us better for it!!
My kids made a huge snow igloo at daycare today, it was the highlight of the day 🙂 I am so happy that kids still can enjoy the snow despite the iPad, computers and other distractions 🙂
And my dad had the rule about not coming back in after 10 min, I have the same with my kids 😛 If they are getting dressed to go out, the need to stay out for some time!
My goal is that my kids will experience some of the same fun I had with winter, even though I now dont like winter at all 😉
I made my kids go outside on snow days, at least for a bit. It was ok with them since they could wear some old snowmobile suits that we had. They were too big for them, but they were so warm !
Ah, the snowsuit. Which effectively rendered a small child immobile, standing in place where left!
Adult version is the snowmobile suit. Northern Michigan, by a solitary tree, in an open field with a 5 ft. snow base, after a few beers with friends, it was not a pretty picture !