( CNN ) Dear Mother Nature , . I wanted to write you a quick note to say thank you . I was delighted to hear that you are not only sending a storm to the Northeast , but a `` historic '' storm with 58 million people in its path . Schools are closing , flights are canceled and a state of emergency has been declared . People are racing to the supermarkets as if a zombie apocalypse had arrived . Milk ! Bread ! Flashlights ! Candles ! Batteries ! A blizzard is coming ! Thank you , Mother Nature . We needed this . I grew up in Western Michigan , where there was nothing as good as a snow day . And we got a lot of them , thanks to the `` lake effect '' snow coming off Lake Michigan . It was a day to sleep in , relax in front of the fire , head outside to play in the snow , bake cookies , help with the shoveling and drink lots of hot chocolate . And boy , we could all use this . I 'm sure you 've noticed : Every year it seems that we are all working harder and our schedules are busier . Finding time to just relax with our families and do next to nothing is next to impossible . And for those of us with kids in school , even when we can take a personal day we usually use the time to get errands done and race the kids from one activity to another . `` Quality time '' becomes riding in the car together . And I know we just had the holidays , but these are not the same as a snow day , where you ca n't go anywhere , you ca n't do much of anything outside and you are usually stuck inside with your the immediate family . Here , suddenly , is your excuse to slow it down -- read a book , work on a DIY project , bake something complicated , play a board game or just feel bored . Snow days are for those simple pleasures you 'd feel too guilty dedicating an hour to any other day . That 's why I 'm also begging you , Mother Nature , could you please knock out the power for several hours too ? Make sure the lights are out long enough that the batteries die on the cellphones , iPads and laptops . Make it so neither kids nor parents can look at a screen , check in to work ... or even put in a full day telecommuting . This is hard to stop unless we are forced to . Studies suggest that the average working professional spends almost 30 % of the day answering and processing emails . That 's 82 work days a year dealing with email ! Just how out of control are we ? The Internet is already filling up with articles about how to `` maximize productivity '' during the storm and tips for ignoring your kids so you can stay connected to work . Listen , we already work too much . That 's why the electricity needs to go out . We need a snow day . It 'll also make selling the Monopoly marathon to the kids much easier if I 'm not competing with Minecraft and `` Gossip Girl '' reruns . And if this drags on for a few days , maybe we 'll reach out to our neighbors , band together and get creative with the meals . We can all go to sleep early ... and then sleep in . Which brings me to another nice thing about losing power : It 'll make a family sleepover a necessity . We 've noticed that none of our kids want to sleep up in their rooms when there 's no power ; they want to be with us . Five people in one bed is n't going to fly , so building a sleep fort and camping out in the living room , now that 's some solid family time . To be sure , massive snow storms are not all fun and games . They can be dangerous , even deadly for the elderly and the homeless . Check on your older or disabled neighbors ; for some of them a power outage is an opportunity for disaster . I pray every one will be safe , stay indoors and seek help early if they need it . But for the many of us , getting snowed in with nowhere to go is a much-needed break from our insanely busy lives . The years are flying by . Who knows how many more snow days we have left to enjoy . So , thank you Mother Nature , for sending a `` historic '' storm our way . I hope we all take the opportunity you 've given us to unplug , crack open the board games and for one day , truly savor the weather , the day and the time doing nothing much at all .
Mel Robbins : Thanks , Mother Nature , for a snow ##man to stop working , go out and have family time . She says if power goes out , better still ; otherwise , parents get away from home , playing board games or out in snow .