Public School Snow Days and Sanity

Today was the third day in a row that the county schools have been closed due to an ice/snow storm this week. Yesterday, before the county had made the decision to close today, I heard some parents bitching about having to have the kids home yet another day. [You didn’t hear me bitching about having to feed their children yet another cup of hot chocolate because they all seem to gravitate toward MY house. But I digress…]

I’ve been mulling over this seemingly universal opinion these parents hold, and today I had a bit of a revelation. I formulated two opinions on the subject:

1) Their kids don’t know what to do with themselves when they don’t have school.

2) The siblings don’t know how to play together.

Yes, this is a huge generalization, but is there truth to it?

Perhaps the problem lies not in the children, but in the parents. Could it be that the parents do not know what to do with kids when they are home?

Over the last 8 months since school let out for the summer, I have had to learn to be with my kids. After several years of public school (and preschool, and daycare), I did not know how to play with my kids. I feared being with them all day every day, because I hadn’t been so good at it before. In some ways, I feared that they would not want to play with me or have me be such a big part of their lives.

Together we are learning to truly enjoy each other and have fun together. No, we do not spend all our time together smiling, laughing, reading and playing games. But we do spend a lot more quality time together. The more we are together, the more I realize how much they missed having time with me. I can’t get those years back, but I can surely work to make the future the best it can be. I’ll call these “The Snow Days.”

February 16, 2007 | Filed Under Rants, Moods and Attitude, Parenting 

Comments

6 Responses to “Public School Snow Days and Sanity”

  1. Steph on February 16th, 2007 10:48 pm

    This is a thought provoking post. :-)

  2. Shery(Sherri) on February 17th, 2007 1:56 am

    I have never been able to understand the parents who feel that way about having their children at home. Even when mine were all in the public school, I loved it when they were home. I cried every fall when I had to send them back to school. I counted the days until breaks and then dreaded the day the break would end. I just can’t understand not wanting my children at home…even on our worst days.

  3. Not June Cleaver on February 17th, 2007 2:56 am

    It is painful to think of times when I dreamed of them being away. I understand it though. I was not committed to parenting. I was torn between motherhood and career. I gave up a career (a big salary, not just some extra income) to stay home. I struggled with that. A lot. But I am happy about the choice I made. I sometimes feel sorrow at what I gave up career-wise. But I know I made the right choice. We have to be more careful about spending choices now, but it is worth it to be here.

    No judgments about those who made a different choice! Please don’t read into my comments if you fit that description. I just want to illustrate that I have changed my life for my children. It was difficult, but rewarding. Thanks for reading.

  4. Meg on February 17th, 2007 12:05 pm

    I’ve always wondered about that attitude myself. I also reached the same 2 generalizations that you did.

    It’s a pity for the kids. How many of those school friends will they still be in contact with in 20/30 years? But their siblings?

  5. Greg Laden on March 15th, 2007 12:21 pm

    June(not): Im having trouble commenting on you site, actually! Her’s my second attempt:

    I’ve never seen that attitude among my friends and colleagues. We’all are biting at the bit for the next snow day. Last year was so disappointing because of the lack of them.

    Maybe some of the complaints you hear are conditions where both parents work and neither of them gets a snow day and the kids are too little to leave home alone?

  6. Not June Cleaver on March 15th, 2007 6:21 pm

    Your first post was in the moderation queue. I’m not sure why. It is the first time I’ve ever had a post in moderation! Must be some sort of cosmic vibe on both our blogs — perhaps the cosmos knows we disagree about homeschooling! :)

    Anyway…

    That’s an interesting perspective. The people I refer to in my post are a mix of working and stay-at-home and none of them have a child under age 6. They do, however, have kids who aren’t really old enough to stay at home alone. In one family, the husband works and the mom stays home; another, both work full time; and another, the husband works full time and the mother works part time. Several others I don’t know their situation personally, I just overheard them griping at the gym.

    I know for myself, I never really felt comfortable with my kids when I was working and even after I quit working (I’ve only been at home 3 years of the almost 10 years I’ve been a mom). I handed over their days to daycare and then to the public schools. I even sent my youngest to preschool at age 2 because I wanted them out of the house!! At the time, I thought it was the right thing because I doubted my ability to be at home with them. Then I tried it — reluctantly — and loved it. And now 3 years later, I took on homeschooling to boot. We’re nuts. We get “the look” when we tell people we homeschool, but we LOVE it.