A snow day for working parents

I was watching the weather last night because we were expecting a Nor'easter, and that can mean school closings and power outages, neither of which is conducive to working.

According to *AccuWeather,^ a nor'easter is a storm that mainly affects the northeastern part of the United States. These storms form along the East coast as warm air from over the Atlantic Ocean clashes with arctic cold to the north and west. A nor'easter gets its name from the northeasterly winds that blow in from the ocean ahead of the storm.

Skip to *what a snow day is like* for working parents.

The storm was gathering momentum

Yeah, so the weather looked bad. It reminded me of a shirt one of my friends had years ago that was a picture of a weather map with the words, "shitty," "shitty," "shitty," "shitty," repeated all over the entire region.

I went to bed. When my husband joined me, I was just checking online to see if the news station had posted any more delays or cancellations than what they had displayed scrolling across the TV screen during the news. They did not. I set my alarm for 6:00 a.m.

The dog needed to go out

4:09 a.m. one of the dogs' toenails click-click-clicking on our floor wakes me up. This dog is a very subtle asker, so basically click-click-click in the middle of the night means he has to go potty. (Our other dog didn't get up to go out all night or all day until almost 2:30 p.m., even though I invited him numerous times.)

I let click-click out and noticed the weather was horrible: windy with sleet or freezing rain (what is the difference, I wonder) whipping out of the sky. I looked on the online news site to see if any of my kids' schools were delayed or canceled. Not yet.

The school calls started coming just before 5 a.m.

I went back to sleep, and the phone rang at 4:54 a.m. It was our local school district superintendent telling us about a 2-hour delay. I texted my middle son to let him know. Then I looked on the news website again to check on my oldest's school (which is out of state, just across the line but distant enough that things are often significantly different), and saw the school cancellation notice. I took a screen shot and texted it to my son.Minutes later at 5:00 a.m., we got the call from his school, which was quite lengthy explaining the changing exam and professional day schedule for the rest of the week, which doesn't concern me much so I hung up, figuring he'd be listening to it.

Minutes later at 5:00 a.m., we got the call from his school, which was quite lengthy explaining the changing exam and professional day schedule for the rest of the week, which doesn't concern me much so I hung up, figuring he'd be listening to it.

I gave up trying to get back to sleep

6:15 a.m. Our local district superintendent called again to announce the school cancellation.

6:15 a.m., my youngest's alarm begins going off. And since he never wakes up, I leapt out of bed to shut it of before it woke up his brother in the adjoining room. "Do not get up. There's no school today," I told him. Because ironically, on the days the kids can sleep in, they don't.

I tried to go back to sleep, because four-and-a-half hours of uninterrupted sleep is really not conducive to an enjoyable or productive work day. I could not. Two-thirds of the kids were up so I figured I would just start my day. Why the schools couldn't have made the call last night (or why the dog can't wait to go out) is beyond me.

At least I didn't have to take a day off

It's a good thing I telecommute.

Today is a day just like any other day, except my whole family is here. Imagine bringing your whole family to your place of employment for a moment.

Okay, it's not that bad.

My kids are older now. Today they managed to cook some of their own food and not leave the kitchen a wreck. They spent far too much time on their electronics but so be it. I work with people outside of my immediate geography who have no sympathy or understanding for snow days. Thankfully, the power didn't go out and it wasn't too cold in our house. My youngest decided to teach himself how to play the ukelele, but I barely heard him. (I don't think my oldest studied for his Latin exam until after 6:00, though.)

One time when my kids were younger, one of their teachers said cheerfully, *"Enjoy the Snow Day,"* all I could think of was, Yeah right. I am sure you'll enjoy it! At least if you know ahead of time, you can work proactively the night before. Kids certainly don't understand the challenges of a *snow day,* until the days add up and they realize they'll be in school until late June.