Closures Due to Cold

[Unregistered]

My one non teacher dcf did come but was late. It's a lazy day here without any little ones... and a little wild. My 6yo and the 4yo dcg need to get outside. They have so much energy lately! Wondering what tomorrow's weather will bring... and thinking I may only take on teacher families after the 4yo hits kindergarten in a year and a half..

[mema]

I think you guys are getting strong winds (making the wind chill colder).

It's not as windy here today as it has been.

The forecast for the week is funny because today the temps are suppose to be -20F and by Friday it's suppose to be +20F (above) so within the next 5 days the swing is HUGE!

Friday will feel like a heat wave! ::

It is windy. I can tell it's dying down now tho since my curtains aren't moving as much and I don't hear any whistling::.

I think our Saturday forecast is 33-ds asked if he could break out the shorts. I told him he could probably use his heavy sweatshirt instead of his winter coat, but not shorts!

Our schools are 2 hours late tomorrow too. Hopefully by the time lunch rolls around, it will be a bit more tolerable.

[Cat Herder]

My licensor "strongly" suggested we be the educated decision maker and close so that no parent unnecessarily brings their little ones out in such extreme cold.

Mine said something similar but they have no provisions for those of us who lose income if we close. I just lost two weeks of income over the holidays because of planned vacation and the flu. I can't do it and feed my own this month....

Funny... I had one family roll up on a 4-wheeler this morning because my bridge was "out" (under 2 inches of ice/swollen river). So, that happened.... ::::::

I don't even close for county wide power outages and the kids tend to arrive EARLY and stay until closing on those days....

[TaylorTots]

My one non teacher dcf did come but was late. It's a lazy day here without any little ones... and a little wild. My 6yo and the 4yo dcg need to get outside. They have so much energy lately! Wondering what tomorrow's weather will bring... and thinking I may only take on teacher families after the 4yo hits kindergarten in a year and a half..

Whoops this was my post got logged out and didn't realize

[Stepping]

I remained open today and we are in the same area getting -40 windchill. However, I will only have one child - my other two are teacher DCMs and the schools are closed today. Then again, that child was suppose to show up 10-15 minutes ago and nothing yet, so we will see... I am worried about it being a late late night because DCM/DCD could easily have issues with cars starting...

We have similar wind/temps here. I stayed open but explained that I had given my assistant the day off (she has to catch two buses to get here and public transit is experiencing major delays) so anyone who could take the day off or work from home should do so.

All but one took the day off. The little guy that's here is the same dck who's mom brought him back to dc the day after he had surgery and flipped out when I sent him home because his surgical wound reopened (he's 15 months old). I understand that she values her career and works for a firm that frowns on parents taking days off but they took a weeks vacation in August and are taking another week off in January.

Maybe save some of those days for emergencies and sickness next time
Vent over!

[lflick]

I live in Northern WI and it is extremely cold! We actually had a massive power outage early this morning due to a high energy line down as a result of the extreme cold..... My home has energy star windows, new insulation, siding, and shingles and the temps inside dropped over 20 degrees in 2 hours! I was honestly beginning to look up hotels in the area because I have 5 littles of my own.

I did not close my doors, BUT if the power would've remained off past 530am I would have..... late last week my only family scheduled for today relayed they would likely be moving their variable days to the end of the week with hopes of not going outside today or tomorrow.

[Bookworm]

Here in SC, this is not the norm. Some districts in the state are closed tomorrow and others are on a two hour delay. When I got off this afternoon, the grocery store was packed. People were acting scared and wondering how they were getting to work in the morning. It was borderline panic. Mind you that there will be no snow and the day should be clear and sunny. It's just colder than usual. Tonight's low will be 11* with wind chill at -5 and tomorrow's high will be 31* with wind chill 20*. Now if we react like this with just extra cold weather, can you imagine us with just the POSSIBILITY of snow. Ladies, you are some strong women to be able to live through all this bad weather. Not to rub it in though, it's supposed to be 70* this weekend.

[craftymissbeth]

I closed today.... I feel REALLY bad, but there is someone setting houses on fire in my area and my husband had my van because he wrecked his car over the weekend. If I needed to evacuate for any reason the babies would freeze. And our wind chill was -14... nothing compared to any of you guys, but I'm a worrier.

[Heidi]

It is windy. I can tell it's dying down now tho since my curtains aren't moving as much and I don't hear any whistling::.

I think our Saturday forecast is 33-ds asked if he could break out the shorts. I told him he could probably use his heavy sweatshirt instead of his winter coat, but not shorts!

Our schools are 2 hours late tomorrow too. Hopefully by the time lunch rolls around, it will be a bit more tolerable.

Gee, Mema....close your windows. It's cold out there!

::::::::::JK

[Naptime yet?]

Today, not so bad. Tomorrow (Tues), the POLAR VORTEX (I love this!) is coming on strong, high of maybe 6, not counting wind chill. I had a dcd call tonight, said he was off work tomorrow because of the cold, but was....yup, dropping the kids off because he had things to do around the house. As my hubby said, it's hard to lay on the couch & watch tv with kids around! I'm going to try my darnedest to refrain from snarkiness when he comes in the am & complains about how cold it is. Maybe Junior will catch a cold and...give it to my entire family! I'm not jaded!

[daycarediva]

When the University closed last night I seriously considered closing too. Or at least....wished that I had a policy about closing if the University closes!

But I'm still getting paid, it's not THAT cold here, the roads aren't bad, and my kids are all mostly easy right now.

Of course, we got missed by the snow. Do you have any idea how peeved I am at the Weather Sprites for gifting us with unreasonably cold weather and not giving us SNOW to enjoy, too?! I would have accepted ice, too. But no. Just ridiculously cold air and wind.

:: I just said the same thing to ds/8 about not having school. What kind of SNOW DAY is this?!

I am open, the roads are open and clear, I have a backup generator and parents know I WILL charge late fees. I only close if the roads are, and/or a state of emergency in my county. (and I am one of the few counties NOT in a SOE)

[NeedaVaca]

I guess I have to add more to my policy book...we are under a travel warning-only emergency vehicles allowed to travel and yet most of my families want to bring their kids! I DO feel a little bad because I had the last 2 weeks off but I can't control the weather! WHY would these parents risk their child's safety??

[hope]

The extreme cold has hit us here today. Nothing like the mid west so I shouldn't complain. Everyone is complaining bc the schools didn't close. Ummmm, as a parent I make the decisions for my children and I kept home for the day. I don't need the school system to give me permission to keep home. I decided to keep DD home today bc there are already a few water main breaks in town along with many power outages. If school is to let out early due to this I don't want to have to bring all the dcks out into this cold. I also rather not have DD out in this cold to drop off and pick up. Just not worth it!!!!!
I wish some of my dc families would put some thought into their day considering the extreme temperatures. Instead, they expect me to. Dcd dropped off this morning asking if they can pick up their sa kid first today so the baby didn't have to go in and out of the car after pick up here. I said "sure, just leave work early then and pick her up so you can make it here on time for pick up". Oh, they can't leave early!!!!!!! I explained that I have a doctors appointment tonight and I will not be able to watch any later. Their response...."well, roads are going to be bad so not sure I can make it here on time". Ughgg!!!!!
I plan on having a late payment slip in hand at pick up. Informing them that next late pick up results in termination. Parents always want me to fix their problems. They need to leave work early, work from home or find alternate pick up if weather conditions are bad. It's my fault for allowing this in the past. Changing the rules today!

[MCC]

I'm on the East Coast and schools closed, but the federal government opened. I was so on the fence about it. I got a text from 4/5 families saying they were staying home, so I let the one family who didn't come. I let them know that I was going to be upstairs, in the non-licensed section of my house, and that I am CLOSED, but would "babysit" her DD today.

Her and my DD are 3 weeks a part, so they are just playing in DD's room and being sweet little girls. I'll be cleaning, drinking coffee, and relaxing today.

[mema]

Gee, Mema....close your windows. It's cold out there!

::::::::::JK

Needed some fresh air::! Can't wait until I save enough to replace it, but it is huge so may never happen.