The Seven Stages of Snow

~ fancypaperblog

Snow Day. The most magical words for a kid. A teenager. A  physically grown-up teacher lady.bitmoji-20171212045952One of most glorious memories from my first year of teaching took place in an Essex school. Or rather didn’t take place. I was living in a large three storey house full of young teachers from Ireland. You couldn’t make it up. My friend’s birthday was on a weekday so we had dinner out. Dinner then a drink. Then another drink. We carefully watched the forecast barely daring to hope as we had that next daring tipple. You know the one that will really set in motion Fuzzy Head Syndrome the next day? Yes. That one. 200w_s.gifThe next morning, we awoke to a blanket of fluffy, cotton-tail coloured candy icing and more was falling. Proper fat, tasty, beautiful flakes. With our equally fluffy heads in place we anxiously listened to the radio- and yes. Snow Day all around. A sausage bap and back to bed. Glory.

These days snow day is still a glorious treat but not a relaxed day of napping. As a parent you must entertain. Largely indoors. Today we are having a random day at home. Snowbound. I tried to get the work but this happened.

It wasn’t a skiddy accident and I didn’t hit anything. I just got very stuck. Getting out of my road was an impossibility and the tractor was needed to get my car out of packed snow. So there I was. Monday morning. In the midst of immobility due to the weather that I had most heartedly welcomed a day earlier. Which got me thinking. We often hear of The Seven Ages of Man. But what about snow?

So onto The Seven Stages of Snow.

1. Hope and Joy!

If you are a Christmas fiend like myself, then the idea of Snow is Pleasurable. Capitalised. The word was out. Snow was due on Sunday morning. Lo and behold- there it was. Twinkling, smiling snow. Transporting our world into the Christmas sweet spot. White fairy dust on a Winter morning in the Irish midlands.

2. The Snowman. 

A flurry of coats, scarves, hats, boots and we are outside. Rolling, huffing and puffing.

Crunching in biscuity fresh snow. Realising that building a snowman is quite an aerobic workout and there is no way Anna and Elsa could have managed it on their own without magic. I always think of one of my favourite TV shows when snow arrives. The Gilmore Girls. Lorelei’s joy at snow. Also, the snowmen building competition. Their works of art! Then what we manage to make.

3. The Pain Barrier. 

The elephant in the room with snow is that it is so cold!! It is almost unbearable. Imagine being a three year old, who is pretty sensitive about her comforts at the best of times, or a two year old who gets stuck in the snow. 20171212_175604Only a matter of time until tears arrive. Gigi sobbed over her ‘cold, cold hands Mammy’ (despite gloves) so a hasty retreat is called for. We aren’t used to the Arctic.

4. Warming Up. 20171211_134345.jpg

I know, I know. My readers will know too. Any bludy excuse and out come the chocolate biscuits with this one. This time the hot, chocolatey goodness in my festive mugs was medicinal.

5. Have Another Go! 

All warmed up and then you must get the gear back out of the dryer for round two. Operation Get The Carrot to Stick into Frosty’s Face.  20171210_102149(0).jpg

6. Ice and Difficulty.bitmoji-20171219103030 The Death of the Tragic Hero but the renewal of hope for yet another Wonderful Snow Day!

The pretty puffy balls of beauty are actually made of water and create havoc on the road. Driving to work (or anywhere) becomes a pain in the neck once the fun stuff is over. Of course, this too shall pass. And so will the snowman.20171216_173929

It is never nice to witness the melty mess that was your creation.

7. Dreaming about your next Snow Day. 

20171210_192018

No sooner than the boots are dry, the snowman has departed and the roads are risk free again, you are happily thinking about the next potential flurry and when it may be. Back to living in a Christmas bubble for another few festive weeks!bitmoji-20171219102731.png

Images By:

Giphy

Bitmoji

Gilmore Girls Reviewed

Fancy Paper

The Pramshed

 

55 thoughts on “The Seven Stages of Snow”

  1. I’ve had a few bad experiences with snowdays and so I can’t help feeling apprehensive seeing those flakes come down, but I will admit they are always pretty even if I hope they don’t stick around long.

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  2. I love how pretty snow makes everything look and I love the joy that it brings my daughter, but that is it. I can’t abide snow otherwise. Especially when we reach stage 6. Then I’m terrified for my life. A lovely Christmassy post Orla x

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  4. It’s been a long time since I had to deal with any “proper” snow. The winters of 2009 and 2010 I will never forget though, they were brilliant! If you like snow, of course 😂 how cute are your little ones? Lovely fuzzy feelings from this post, loves it xx

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  6. Lovely post on the various stages of snow and your experiences with it….hilarious and lovely anecdotes…:)….enjoyed reading it as well as those lovely pictures….nice post 🙂

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  7. Skidding is not much fun, looking like a possum in headlights 🙂 Maybe a snowy Christmas next year, so we can make a snowman. Fun post, Orla, have a fun time with your family x

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  9. I wish I could share your joy of snow. Unfortunately I’ve lived in a place the regularly gets lots of snow and I dream of having a holiday season where it’s warm and sunny. I’m glad you’re enjoying yours thought! Merry Christmas!

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  10. I love your seven stages of snow!! Very clever and fun to read. I must say I’m at the beach at the moment and the only white stuff around us is white sand and blue crystal clear water… enjoy your white Christmas.

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  12. The Gilmore Girls is my favorite show, too, and I love her enthusiasm about snow. Snow gets a bad rep these days, simply because it is inconvenient and Back breaking to remove. I’ve worked in health care my entire career and have had two snow days in 38 years. I only want to be a teacher on snow days and school vacations. 😉

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  13. I’m fortunate enough to live somewhere where it very rarely snows, because I hate the stuff. It’s cold as well as wet. I saw the aftermath of last week’s snow in the Midlands when I was visiting relatives and I’ll be happy if I don’t see any more snow this winter.

    It’s not all bah humbug. Have a great Christmas, Orla.

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  15. Although there’s not much that tops the beauty of a fresh snowfall, it’s the mess an inconvenience later on that keeps me happy here in the south! In the 14 years I’ve lived here, I’ve had exactly one snow day, and it was glorious! The snow fell all day on Friday, stayed through the weekend, and was gone by Sunday.

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  16. I enjoy winter and yes snow (Canadian so that is a good thing). No snow days yet here just a light dusting. Hoping we see some white stuff over the Christmas holidays just not freezing rain to make driving horrific. Happy Holidays and how you make more snow people over the holidays.

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      1. That’s cool my friend! I always think, “All these fancy people have gotten all the awards before… maybe they won’t mind being nominated again…😖” good to know this one is new and that you don’t mind!

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  20. As a teacher I used to LIVE for snow days, and on the rare occasions we got them (once on the day of an OFSTED inspection haha!) I would go to the pub with my friend. Now, as I work from home, my snow days ended up being no different… Love the pics too!

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    1. Oh my god that is the best ever. We have Whole School Inspections here that are intense but I remember Ofsted being like a swarm of Nazi dictators arriving. They seemed to look for the bad over the good if I recall. What a super day for snow. Guess what- we have a snow warning for tomorrow. Getting the sausages bought in as I type. Woohoo!! 😍😍

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  21. Snow days are the best! They were the best when I was in school, and I still love them. Here in Minnesota we don’t get snow days unless we get 12+ inches of snow, or a lot of ice along with the snow. I remember one Halloween when I was in elementary school, we got 18 inches of snow. My brothers and I went out trick-or-treating with my mother, trudging through the snow, but it was so much fun. We also got a snow day the next day. Halloween plus two snow days – it was paradise for us kids. 🙂 Great post, Orla!

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  23. Everybody seemed to get snow this year, except us… we’ve had about 2 minutes of snow before the pouring rain washed it all away! Love your 7 stages of snow… so true! lol… Sad times when frosty gets fried. I’ve only ever built one snowman… it is not happening again! So cold!!

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  24. Yaaaay! We had a snow day on Friday, and then headed out to Whistler for the most epic snow day ever at the weekend.

    I loved the snow when I was growing up, but I love it even more now we are close to mountains!!

    I didn’t have enough hot chocolate yet though!

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  25. The paradox of snow days and customer service. I don’t know why but whenever everyone else gets a snow day, usually the company I worked for was still open. And the call volume would increase that day because people were home and they would actually be mad that we didn’t have enough Reps to answer the calls. Really, Mr. Customer? Your school closed, which meant my Rep needed to be home with their kids and now you’re wondering why I don’t have enough people to answer calls from people who actually got to have the day off? Oh. Yes. I remember snow days, just not with the same joy as others.

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  27. I’m currently at the sobbing stage as my PC is at work so I will have to commute in it tomorrow. I love looking at snow but it does make daily life a PITA. Stay warm!

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  32. Love your 7days of snow..I remember the wet clarted indoors and the thaw and then the freeze..the oh so frozen fingers and toes … I much prefer to see everyones snow pictures from afar

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