Parents, School is Closed, Do You Know What To Do With Your Kids?

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Here in the midwest the schools are closed due to the extreme cold conditions. Too many parents whine and complain when the schools close because they have no idea what to do with their kids if the school isn't taking care of them. I wonder how these parents would react if there was an emergency situation at the school and the faculty and administration had no idea what to do with the kids. So, parents, what's the difference? We expect our schools to have plans in the event of natural or manmade emergencies, but we fail to make such plans ourselves. In this culture where both parents work kids being raised by a single parent, it really does cause a problem when kids can't go to school. Believe me, I understand this, and I know full well what kind of problems it causes. What I don't understand is the total lack of foresight exhibited by so many parents. Every school year is packed with days that classes aren't held. What do you do with your kids on those days? True, you can look at a calendar and plan for those days, which does make it more convenient, but then again, it's not the job of the school to make your life convenient. When you are planning for the scheduled days off, make your plans for the unscheduled emergencies. You can't say that it wasn't expected, you can only say that you didn't think it was important enough to plan ahead. In understand that there are a lot of employers who do understand and are willing to help you out. There are also a lot of coworkers who you can count on in a pinch. I also understand that there are a lot who don't want to be bothered. If you have the first kind, wonderful, but if you have the other kind, your schools are still going to have days they don't have classes, and there will still be days your kids are sick... it's a favor if your employers or co-workers are understanding, but it's not their responsibility. "But my boss should understand..." "but the school should understand..." "but..." "but.." "but..." Guess what, you can't control what your boss, the school or anyone else understands, thinks or does, you can only control what YOU understand, think or do. You need to be the one understanding, thinking and doing. Understand that your kids are no one else's responsibility but your own and that you need to take that responsibility and make a plan. Think ahead instead of wait around whining until someone else does something to fix YOUR problem. Then do... Contact the people in your life who might be able to take care of your kids at a moments' notice. Get to know the teenagers of your friends, acquaintences, co-workers; families in your social clubs, churches or others. You have lots of time to make a plan, but no time at all to react to a school closing... but for too many, the only thing they have "time" to do is whine.