Storm fallout

Thanks to a bit of a windstorm on Saturday night, everything has come to a screeching halt in Fairfield county and beyond.  I was oblivious to the fact that trees were topping that night, taking down power lines and houses with them.

But now it's gorgeous and sunny. The streets around us and our school have been clear for a day or two. Some people are still without power and taking showers at the Y but many homes have been restored.

But the schools... the schools have been closed for three days now! (No one knows what to call it exactly, a snow day? Meanwhile, it's 60 degrees.) They say it's because they're concerned about kids walking on power lines. ??? Where, on the playground? The first two days, the explanation was that the busses couldn't get through. Fine. Understandable. Yesterday, word was that one or two schools were still without power. But why not lest the rest of town resume normal life? It's getting a bit excessive.

We've had a ridiculous number of snow days this year, all of which have to be made up at the end of the school year. The kids were supposed to get out on June 18, which has been kicked back to June 23. But at this rate, they're going to be in school until July 4th.

Even QB said to me last night: "It's actually a little bit boring when there's no school."

Anatomy of a Snow Day

We had ANOTHER snow day again today. Aack. It was fun in December. Now, not so much. We haven't had a full week of school since some time in early February, I think. I'm jsut worried about the kids' education, you see.

Here's my recent article on snow days for Westport.Patch.

"7:00 am -- My son, QB, pounces into our room to let us know he's UP. Mind you, on a school day I can't drag him out of bed before 7:15, and that's after much prodding and blanket-removal.

7:10 am -- Tooth Fairy crisis. Oops, the fairy forgot to do her thing last night. Said fairy furtively slips a few bucks under QB's pillow. Later, he notes nonchalantly, "When I first got up, my tooth was still there, and then later I found some money and the tooth was gone." "Odd," I concur. "The Tooth Fairy's work ethic is slipping these days."

7:15 am – Despite my requests, QB and the cat play with a noisy toy in the hallway right in front of daughter Mopsy's open door.

7:16 am -- Mopsy's awake.

7:45 am -- Parental bribery begins. One episode of  Phineus and Ferb in exchange for another half hour of sleep. The accept my opening offer. Suckers.

8:15 am -- First sibling fight. Mopsy runs in to tell me QB yelled in her ear while they were playing a video game because she didn't want to be on that level but QB did want to be on that level and something else about a level. I don't really care all that much about the levels.

9:00 am -- Kids run outside to stockpile some ammo for a snowball battle later on. QB asks if I'll come out to help him find that snowball-making toy that he left outside weeks ago and is now fully hidden under the snow. He's a real kidder, that one. (Yes, this would be that same toy that we asked him a dozen times to pick up because he wouldn't be able to find it when it snowed.)

9:30 am -- Crisis in the home office. Husband can't find power cord for computer and needs me to help him! If power cord is really missing, he won't be able to work today! He needs to work today! Ah. Crisis averted. Power cord mistakenly sitting in trash can just inches from where it normally resides.

9:45 am -- First load of laundry. I have an ambitious goal for today: get completely caught up on the wash.  Call me an overachiever."

Click here to read the rest:

http://westport.patch.com/articles/anatomy-of-a-snow-day

The Winter "Break" Misnomer

The kids were off last week for ELEVEN days. Not only was there a whole week of Winter break, but the Monday following it was a teacher development day. Poorly timed, if you ask me. And the Thursday before break was a snow day. In other words, the kids have been home a lot.

One mom I know said something along the lines of, "If you go on vacation, it flies by. If you stay home it's the longest week of your life."

Guess which category I fall into? It's painful when your whole neighborhood -- and all your kids' friends -- are gone, off to places like St. Martin and the Bahamas.

It's amusing, when school resumes, how the teachers are so delightful and refreshed. The moms, meanwhile, are harried and irritable. And now, we're hearing that we might have a snow day tomorrow! I know I've written about how much I love snow days and what a treat they are. I've changed my mind. Now I"m crossing my fingers for rain.