Snow Closing Questions AGAIN

[MCC]

I'm sure these questions are getting old, and so are these snow days....

Per contract, I am closed tomorrow, since our county schools are, as well as the Federal Government. However, this is our 4th snow day this year, and I am feeling guilty about the closings, although it is obviously not my fault.

I'm watching the news, and they are advising that nobody drive unless absolutely necessary, we got 10inches of snow in Northern Va, which is not common, so we are not very equipped to handle the roads. They said neighborhoods will not even see plows until at least tomorrow at noon.

I have one parent who is begging me to take her daughter, she is out of vacation days and her DD had the flu last week, so she had to take 4 days off. I feel bad for her, but I also don't feel very comfortable being open tomorrow, for multiple reasons. I gave her a couple of my subs numbers today, but she is not comfortable with that.


I know I should just stick to my policy, but I feel 4 days in a month is very excessive, though each day has turned out to be a mess on the roads.

What are your honest thoughts on this? I am way stressed about these closings.

[Unregistered]

You can't make her problems your problem. She will figure it out. You gave her sub #'s and SHE is not comfortable, yet, I'm sure your judgment is good enough that you wouldn't refer just anyone. Besides, it may be that her work closes if the whole town closes anyway. I cannot see how an employer could be legally allowed to penalize someone who is absent or late when roads shut down and advisories are in place and I read it's gonna be a pretty ugly storm (I'm in the West so we're not seeing anything yet and it's been unusually warm again).

I'd tell her you're closed due to extreme weather conditions, and that the subs MAY be open, but if not, safety of her and her children should be first over any job.

[Blackcat31]

I'm sure these questions are getting old, and so are these snow days....

Per contract, I am closed tomorrow, since our county schools are, as well as the Federal Government.

However, this is our 4th snow day this year, and I am feeling guilty about the closings, although it is obviously not my fault.

I'm watching the news, and they are advising that nobody drive unless absolutely necessary, we got 10inches of snow in Northern Va, which is not common, so we are not very equipped to handle the roads. They said neighborhoods will not even see plows until at least tomorrow at noon.

I have one parent who is begging me to take her daughter, she is out of vacation days and her DD had the flu last week, so she had to take 4 days off. I feel bad for her, but I also don't feel very comfortable being open tomorrow, for multiple reasons. I gave her a couple of my subs numbers today, but she is not comfortable with that.


I know I should just stick to my policy, but I feel 4 days in a month is very excessive, though each day has turned out to be a mess on the roads.

What are your honest thoughts on this? I am way stressed about these closings.

You have a policy.
Stick to it.
This is not YOUR choice.
You do not control the weather.
She HAS options but is CHOOSING to not use them

It's okay to feel bad.
You don't have to ACT on those feelings though.

Stop stressing. Let each family deal.

Those are the facts as I see them.

[MCC]

Thank you both. I like how you said I can feel bad, but don't have to act on those feelings....This should apply to a lot of situations in my life...

[hope]

It is January and she is already out of days? This will be a long year for you if you give in on your policies now.

[MCC]

It is January and she is already out of days? This will be a long year for you if you give in on your policies now.

This is exactly what I was thinking! I don't know how she is going to make it through the year. They took the first week of Jan off for vacation, so she blew 5 days there. It really is not my problem that she planned poorly, or that she is uncomfortable with my subs.

[daycarediva]

This is exactly what I was thinking! I don't know how she is going to make it through the year. They took the first week of Jan off for vacation, so she blew 5 days there. It really is not my problem that she planned poorly, or that she is uncomfortable with my subs.

She is making her problems your problems. "I sympathize with you dcm, but we are closed because of X, per contract."

How would your other families feel if they knew you stayed open for ONE child? EEK.

[hope]

This is exactly what I was thinking! I don't know how she is going to make it through the year. They took the first week of Jan off for vacation, so she blew 5 days there. It really is not my problem that she planned poorly, or that she is uncomfortable with my subs.

If you give in on this one the rest of the year she will expect you to care for her child with a fever, diarrhea, who knows what else! Her child's health should come as a priority over her vacation. She wasn't worried about all this a few weeks ago with such poor planning? Completely her problem, not yours.

[MCC]

She is definitely trying to make this my problem. The police department is on the news right now, maybe I can find this on their website. They were explaining exactly why you should stay home. They made it very clear that the more people on the roads, the less likely an ambulance would be able to get to a household or SCHOOL. I'm off to find this clip and post it on my FB page.

[Cat Herder]

If your policy is to close with your local school system for weather, then stick to it. :hug: If you don't you are telling them you disagree with your own policy as well.

[childcaremom]

Stick to your policy. The weather is beyond your control.

And as a pp mentioned, what would your other families think if they found out you opened just for her?

[mountainside13]

It is January and she is already out of days? This will be a long year for you if you give in on your policies now.

My husband gets his PTO based on when he was hired (June) and not in January. Maybe that's what happened to dcm? Either way sounds like poor planning on her part.

Stick with your policies! I don't close for snow days unless they say emergency personal only. Then I close.

[lovemykidstoo]

OP- It's pretty simple, like everyone said if it's your policy, then you just have to remind her of that and sympathize with her. If she agreed to it, then it shouldn't be a shock to her.

I do have a question though, do you do daycare in your home or do you need to travel? I'm just interested to see why you close due to snow. My daycare is in my home and I don't close for weather. If they choose to come and risk it, that's their choice. If they don't come, then they still pay for it. I had one person come one time when we got 18 iinches of snow. Literally the whole town was shut down. The kicker is, they live right across the street from their own business and it's a motorcycle repair shop. So they drove 15 miles to drop their child off when they own the business. They got stuck in my neighborhood

[MCC]

OP- It's pretty simple, like everyone said if it's your policy, then you just have to remind her of that and sympathize with her. If she agreed to it, then it shouldn't be a shock to her.

I do have a question though, do you do daycare in your home or do you need to travel? I'm just interested to see why you close due to snow. My daycare is in my home and I don't close for weather. If they choose to come and risk it, that's their choice. If they don't come, then they still pay for it. I had one person come one time when we got 18 iinches of snow. Literally the whole town was shut down. The kicker is, they live right across the street from their own business and it's a motorcycle repair shop. So they drove 15 miles to drop their child off when they own the business. They got stuck in my neighborhood

OP here- I do work from my home, however, I have 2 staff members I need to stay within ratios, and they have to come to me. They also both have young school agers so they have to stay home if the schools are closed. I have thought about doing a rotating system so I could open with low numbers, but stay within , I'm just not sure how to start this, and it seems like a lot of work to make sure it's fair.

[lovemykidstoo]

OP here- I do work from my home, however, I have 2 staff members I need to stay within ratios, and they have to come to me. They also both have young school agers so they have to stay home if the schools are closed. I have thought about doing a rotating system so I could open with low numbers, but stay within , I'm just not sure how to start this, and it seems like a lot of work to make sure it's fair.

I figured there had to be someone that traveled. I was just curious. I don't know how she can argue if it's in your policies. A rotating system would probably work, but you're right, it would be a lot of work and I'm sure you would have someone complaining. You're darned if you do and darned if ya don't.