THE BEST E-MAIL FROM A PARENT . . . EVER

I will vent more about the fact that my kids and I had to go to school this morning in the snow and ice later . . . all other public and private schools around us were closed. Remember—this is North Carolina—we are not equipped for snow and ice, and people certainly don't know how to drive in weather on the wintry side since it doesn't happen often. So I would have appreciated the safety of a snow day. But alas.

Anyway,

I arrive at school a wee bit cranky only to learn the middle school rule, "Leave the snow on the ground."

Huh?

These kids see a brief glimpse of snow every year or two, and we're supposed to keep them from it?

Forget about it—instead of teaching in vain—I head out with a handful of kids (those who actually come to school) and we play: snowangels, snowballs, tiny snowpeople, and we just revel in the strange, fluffy stuff falling from the southern sky. I even let them throw a few snowballs at my back, I mean, come on. Let the poor kids throw the soft stuff, it's not like I'm letting them throw hammers!

My little act of civil disobedience resulted in the best e-mail from a parent . . . ever:

Thanks for going out this morning to play in the snow with the kids. __________ really appreciated it and was sorry you got in trouble with _______! It seems to me that the only reasonable consolation for having to go to school in the snow is an opportunity to throw snowballs at a teacher.