I screamed. My brother screamed. My sister screamed. Even my mom screamed. And then we ran around the house a few times before it set in. We actually had a snow day.

All Sunday, we watched the snow flutter to the ground in its white ecstasy. The forecast only said snow, more snow and freezing temperatures. My middle-school-aged brother was convinced that we would have a snow day. Me, not so much. I can count on both hands the number of snow days I have had in my school career. I was prepared to return to school on Monday. But, I still hoped. Every half hour, we would check the school website and Channel 7’s school closings. And it happened.

Needless to say, I was elated. An extra day to do nothing else but nothing? I’m not complaining. So, I did what any teenager would do: I checked Twitter – and just in time to see it hit the feed with a bang. Countless tweets filed out, all to the same extent: it’s a snow day. Some people were excited, others just wanted to stop the flurry of celebration. I was one of those people that commented in all caps and favorited every tweet.

I’m 18. Officially an adult. And I’m not the least bit ashamed to say that I went outside after dinner in my bulky snow pants to build a snowman. The layer of freshly fallen snow was beautiful. I trekked around it for a while, but it was the packable snow that had fallen hours before that would create my snowman. My front yard was destroyed in the process, but Olaf, three feet tall, was a success –  for about three minutes until he was stuck in the middle of a full-fledged war. A snowball fight, of course.

What is a snow day jubilee without the sounds of school boys yelling and poorly packed snow balls whizzing by? On my block, it never ends. Naturally, I had to join in and leave Olaf in the crossfire. But, I don’t think that he minded.

Monday came. Monday went. Of course, I still found myself  yearning for another day, but two days in a row? That seemed impossible. The high for Tuesday was a toasty four degrees, and that must have been enough because we were gifted one more.

Tuesday came. Tuesday went. At that point, I hate to say it, but I was ready. Eighteen days with no school, although brilliant, was getting old. I had surfed Tumblr to the maximum and listened to the same radio songs for one hour too many. I wanted structure back in my life. But, hey. A record-breaking three days gets no protest from me.  Structure could wait.

Snow days have this elusive charm. Mother Nature, with her big heart, blesses the children of the frosty tundra with a day off to revel in the beauty.  Although it was too cold to actually play during the day (negative three is a tad chilly, even for Olaf the snowman), it meant joy and relaxation. We can always use more of that, even after nineteen days of break. Thanks, Mother Nature.