We finally had our first snow day.

After the activity drought of COVID, I told myself I’d never need another night off from anything again, but as we strolled through December with warmer than average temperatures, and got through half of January, with no cancellations, I started to change my mind.

Long gone are the days when the kids would wake up early, excited for the possibility of no school, and a giant pile of snow to play in all day.

When I saw the weather forecast, I grabbed a container of hot chocolate just in case, but I knew my teenagers would most likely sleep as late as they could and then grouse about being forced outside to help shovel.

I exercised the option to work from home, so I could handle the shoveling, and let them fully enjoy their snow day, and what may be one of A’s final snow days, in any way they saw fit. Well, any way they saw fit with a small list of chores I needed them to do.

A spent the day plugging away at a few more college applications, and trying to get prepared for his third quarter classes. E spent most of the day in bed, trying to combat a cold that has been threatening to take her down for a few days.

And, G, well, G spent the day rooting through the freezer in the hopes of finding any leftover frozen appetizer snacks we might have on hand. Then, he spent a bit of time in his chicken coop, reviewing the warming situation that he created for his spoiled birds last weekend. Then, just because he was bored, he decided to dash through the yard in his socks and sweatpants, and nothing else. That’s G for you.

Now, it’s the dogs that have taken the place of the kids. They are up at the crack of dawn, anxious to head out to play. After hours of playing, their fur crusted over with snow, I had to drag them in, just as I used to drag the kids in, insisting that it was time to warm up.

No sooner did the icicles melt from their beards, they were ready to head right back outside. Their entire day was outside to play, inside for a drink and a snack, outside to play, inside for a quick nap, outside to play, repeated until it was too dark and cold for me.

We have always loved our snow days and nights. Even though Steve and I regularly had to work on-site during the day, we still looked forward to an early, quiet evening. Once working remotely became an option for us, it was a nice compromise, a way to get our work done, while also keeping tabs on the kids, and not having to worry about treacherous commutes. I think the kids liked knowing that they’d get both parents, at home, without us running in 12 directions, and we’d all have a nice family night.

We still struggle with sitting down to do things together as a family of four. It’s just too much of a reminder that we should be five, so I didn’t try to drag everyone into the TV room for a movie, or a game night like we used to do.

Instead, I just puttered around the kitchen, making a pot of chicken noodle soup to help with E’s cold, and baked a loaf of bread to go with it. It was enough to lure them out and we sat down together for a meal.

Maybe this was our last snow day, or maybe we’ll be lucky enough to have a few more. Not enough to ruin Easter break, but enough to provide a little break in the middle of the chaos.

Next year, our snow days will be down to three. A is likely to be away at college and will most likely not get the benefit of a snow day, or possibly not even be having the same weather that we are. He will, of course, probably not mind that at all.

I know one day in the not too far future, it won’t matter to me whether school is canceled or not. My early mornings will be uninterrupted by updates from the school, or kids moaning because they have or haven’t made the call yet. All my evenings will be free and clear of activities, whether it’s snowing or not.

Although they’re a break in the chaos, the aftermath of a snow day is more chaos, as events have to be rescheduled, practices have to be made up, the laziness that crept in has to be shaken off. And yet, I hope we will have a few more of them before winter is over. I still have a container of hot chocolate that needs to be made.

Liz Pinkey’s column appears weekly in the Times News.