Toddlers: 12 - 24 Months

Daycare Closed due to weather... what an inconvenience!

We have our son in an in-home daycare.  She uses the county school schedule, so anytime the county schools are closed, she's closed.  Well, today they closed, and subsequently, so did she.  This is a huge pain in the rear since I still had to work and so did DH.  She's still getting paid for today and I just don't think she should close since she doesn't have to go anywhere. We go to her.  
Last year the same thing happened and when I said something, she said it was for the safety of the children... well, it is not safer for my child if I have to drag him to an alternate daycare option (my mom or friend) and they live much further than her daycare which is on my way to work....  Turns out today the roads were just wet, not hazardous at all.
She's awesome otherwise, so considering changing daycare would be difficult, but I think this is highly inconvenient. 

What is your daycare inclement weather policy??  Do you not think this is pretty ridiculous... ? 
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Re: Daycare Closed due to weather... what an inconvenience!

  • I understand your frustration! DC closed last minute because of a cold/flu vrius spreading in the provider's home so I had to scramble to make last minute arrangements. As far as weather, if we can get there- DS goes. She only has policies on Holidays and illness, not weather.
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  • We use a center, and the center closes when that town's schools are closed.  I actually think our state has a law about this.
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  • Our day care closes if there is no power only. She has always opened. While we only use her as a drop in so there is no head ache for us, I do understand the frustration of the closure when she is still getting paid.
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  • I'm lucky, my center only closes in extreme weather and doesn't appear to follow the local school system. Also my work is pretty flexible about not being in due to weather and closes when the weather gets really bad. And if my work doesn't then DH's work is often closed when the weather gets too bad. Last year there was one day where DC closed and work wasn't closed. Unfortunately they didn't call it until 8:30, after I'd started driving there. Annoying, but no big deal.
    Haven't found a DC that refunds snow days.
  • This is fairly normal.  They do it to keep children off dangerous roads.  If you choose to take your child somewhere else, that's your call but what she did isn't unheard of and a lot of people work from home or take a sick day if the roads are dangerous and their kids don't have school.  Also, you knew the policy so I'm not sure why you're upset.  
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  • I don't use a daycare, but from what I understand, this is pretty standard. Welcome to life with kids...they can be inconvenient. Are you gonna gripe when he's in school and they close on snow days?
  • I don't use a daycare, but from what I understand, this is pretty standard. Welcome to life with kids...they can be inconvenient. Are you gonna gripe when he's in school and they close on snow days?

    I certainly would gripe. I had to go to school on snow days. But I was also raised in NY where snow is normal. OP I think it's pretty ridiculous for the school system to shut down just because of rain. Where do you live?
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  • Ours say they TRY to stay open even if schools are closed, but it just depends on how comfortable they are with the safety issue.
  • Its a safety and liability issue. This is the rest of your life: schools and daycares close for a variety of reasons and you just have to adjust. I am not saying it is easy. We have no immediate family where we live and we just moved to a new city-- so if my girls miss daycare, I am missing work. It is what it is.
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  • I don't use a daycare, but from what I understand, this is pretty standard. Welcome to life with kids...they can be inconvenient. Are you gonna gripe when he's in school and they close on snow days?

    I certainly would gripe. I had to go to school on snow days. But I was also raised in NY where snow is normal. OP I think it's pretty ridiculous for the school system to shut down just because of rain. Where do you live?
    Every school has a threshold for when they will remain open. I grew up in NJ and we saw plenty of snow - but nothing like Minnesota or the Dakotas or somewhere like that. We had plenty of 2 hour delays and the occasional snow day. 

    Don't tell me schools in NY never close. Of course they do. Just not in the same circumstances as other places. 
    I never once said that schools in NY never close and I wasn't even talking to you. FYI I did have to go to school on snow days and that is what I said.
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  • I don't use a daycare, but from what I understand, this is pretty standard. Welcome to life with kids...they can be inconvenient. Are you gonna gripe when he's in school and they close on snow days?

    I certainly would gripe. I had to go to school on snow days. But I was also raised in NY where snow is normal. OP I think it's pretty ridiculous for the school system to shut down just because of rain. Where do you live?
    Every school has a threshold for when they will remain open. I grew up in NJ and we saw plenty of snow - but nothing like Minnesota or the Dakotas or somewhere like that. We had plenty of 2 hour delays and the occasional snow day. 

    Don't tell me schools in NY never close. Of course they do. Just not in the same circumstances as other places. 
    I never once said that schools in NY never close and I wasn't even talking to you. FYI I did have to go to school on snow days and that is what I said.
    You said you had to go to school on snow days. When people say "snow day" in reference to school they don't mean a day that it snowed, they mean a day off of school b/c of snow. It's common usage that "snow day" means no school. 

    And I didn't realize there were rules about who could respond in a post. Thanks for letting me know. 

    You said "Don't tell me schools in NY never close. Of course they do. Just not in the same circumstances as other places." I wanted to clarify that I wasn't telling  you. No problem.
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  • When I lived in upstate NY, they rarely closed for snow, because it snowed every.damn.day.  They usually only closed when it was too cold.  I think the wind chill had to be -20 for schools to close.  Liability for all the kids standing at the bus stop and stuff.


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  • stgn01 said:
    When I lived in upstate NY, they rarely closed for snow, because it snowed every.damn.day.  They usually only closed when it was too cold.  I think the wind chill had to be -20 for schools to close.  Liability for all the kids standing at the bus stop and stuff.
    This is what I meant except I was in the city and walked to school. Sorry for the confusion, I should've worded it differently.
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  • I don't use a daycare, but from what I understand, this is pretty standard. Welcome to life with kids...they can be inconvenient. Are you gonna gripe when he's in school and they close on snow days?

    I certainly would gripe. I had to go to school on snow days. But I was also raised in NY where snow is normal. OP I think it's pretty ridiculous for the school system to shut down just because of rain. Where do you live?
    Every school has a threshold for when they will remain open. I grew up in NJ and we saw plenty of snow - but nothing like Minnesota or the Dakotas or somewhere like that. We had plenty of 2 hour delays and the occasional snow day. 

    Don't tell me schools in NY never close. Of course they do. Just not in the same circumstances as other places. 
    I never once said that schools in NY never close and I wasn't even talking to you. FYI I did have to go to school on snow days and that is what I said.
    You said you had to go to school on snow days. When people say "snow day" in reference to school they don't mean a day that it snowed, they mean a day off of school b/c of snow. It's common usage that "snow day" means no school. 

    And I didn't realize there were rules about who could respond in a post. Thanks for letting me know. 

    You said "Don't tell me schools in NY never close. Of course they do. Just not in the same circumstances as other places." I wanted to clarify that I wasn't telling  you. No problem.
    You said you had to go to school on snow days. That makes no sense. If you mean, like another poster said, that they rarely closed for snow b/c you were equipped to handle it, then you didn't have a snow day. 

    Perhaps it's just semantics. 

    I'm not used to the term snow days because our school didn't close for just snow. So when I said I went to school on snow days, I was being literal since they were days when it snowed.
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  • I'm from New England and we rarely had school closing but when we did, they were called snow days. My senior year we had like 8. It was awesome because I didn't have to make them up when the normal number was like 1-3.
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  • I don't use a daycare, but from what I understand, this is pretty standard. Welcome to life with kids...they can be inconvenient. Are you gonna gripe when he's in school and they close on snow days?
    No.  I think that is different.   An in home daycare where the caretaker doesn't have to leave home is very different than a school.  I think it should be up to the parents to decide whether it is or it is not safe to get them there.  Here in Maryland, school closes in the drop of a hat.  It is ridiculous.  We had 3 inches of snow and then a little sleet.  Driving this morning was fine, no ice and most of the roads were plowed.  Even the side roads were fine! Her daycare being closed  normally wouldn't affect a lot of the other parents there since most of them work for the school system, but my work is always open and my husband just started a new job and doesn't have any time off available.

    Jasmine - thank you for your insight.  Don't mind Lalamama, she's always this way. 
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  • @OP, I would be annoyed about an in home closing because of minor weather as well...I agree that it is not like she has to go anywhere. If the weather is bad enough that no one should be on the roads, jobs should be closed as well.

    yes, my point exactly.  If the weather is truly that bad, even my job (that never closes)  will reluctantly close.  It is seldom that we get that type of weather here in Maryland though.  Most of the time snow is about 3-5 inches and it is more of an inconvenience than anything. Schools overreact big time here.
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  • jasminelorraine20 You can't have gone to school on snow days. A snow day is when the school is CLOSED because of snow. If you had school, and school was open, then by definition that isn't a snow day.  Unless you walked to a locked up school and sat outside all day?

    @OP, I would be annoyed about an in home closing because of minor weather as well...I agree that it is not like she has to go anywhere. If the weather is bad enough that no one should be on the roads, jobs should be closed as well.
    As I explained a few posts above, I'm not familiar with the term "snow day". I was being literal because they were days that snowed and I still went to school, I am not slow. No I didn't sit outside of a locked school.
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  • Katie829 said:
    I'm from New England and we rarely had school closing but when we did, they were called snow days. My senior year we had like 8. It was awesome because I didn't have to make them up when the normal number was like 1-3.
    Was that in 96?    LOL, the same thing happened to me.  All my friends had to go to school for 2 extra weeks, but I didn't have to cause I was a senior.  good times :)
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  • In your post from the Working Moms board, you said:

    DS's daycare provider (in home), text me last night that DC will be closed today due to everyone in her household having the flu. So of course I had to scramble to make last minutre babysitting arrangements.

    If they closed because of the flu, I'd totally understand but, otherwise, I'd also find it annoying if it was an in home provider that closed with the schools. We go to a center that is affiliated with the district so they close down every time the wind blows too hard.
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  • I think it's a common policy...I know among my friends, this is the policy in a few in home daycares as well as a center.  A lot of times, in the case of an in home sitter, if their kids are going to be home from school, it throws off their numbers and how many kids they can care for per adult.  

    And to the PP who asked why schools closed due to rain - it's actually happened where we live quite a few times due to past flooding issues and the reasoning that kids are safer at home than on the bus in the case of flash flooding.  
  • JENandJEH said:
    I think it's a common policy...I know among my friends, this is the policy in a few in home daycares as well as a center.  A lot of times, in the case of an in home sitter, if their kids are going to be home from school, it throws off their numbers and how many kids they can care for per adult.  

    And to the PP who asked why schools closed due to rain - it's actually happened where we live quite a few times due to past flooding issues and the reasoning that kids are safer at home than on the bus in the case of flash flooding.  
    Ah! Understandable.
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  • DS goes to an in home day care. She does not close due to weather. However, if your child was not scheduled to come that day she may deny them if school is closed so that she doesn't go over legal number of children.

    If school closes, parents with one child in daycare and one child in school get first priority.

    If she closes due to illness she does not charge.

    If you cancel because of illness she uses personal discretion on whether or not you are charged. Did you call 24 hours in advance? Is it an ear ache or projectile vomiting? Do you cancel a lot?

    I have never had a reason to complain about her or her policies.
  • I have a child in a home daycare before and she didn't close for any reason. If she had an appt, she found someone else to come care for the kids and let us know ahead of time in case there were any issues.  It was usually someone that we all knew anyone (one of her family members) so there wasn't a problem. DD is now in a center and they only close if there's no power, but this means if the generator isn't working.  They do not function on the school calendar, and I think that's odd that a daycare would.  They exist for when kids are not in school (too young, summer, school closed, etc) and need care, do they not?  I'm aware that I only have my experience to go on, but I do think that's odd.
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  • I don't use a daycare, but from what I understand, this is pretty standard. Welcome to life with kids...they can be inconvenient. Are you gonna gripe when he's in school and they close on snow days?
    No.  I think that is different.   An in home daycare where the caretaker doesn't have to leave home is very different than a school.  I think it should be up to the parents to decide whether it is or it is not safe to get them there.  Here in Maryland, school closes in the drop of a hat.  It is ridiculous.  We had 3 inches of snow and then a little sleet.  Driving this morning was fine, no ice and most of the roads were plowed.  Even the side roads were fine! Her daycare being closed  normally wouldn't affect a lot of the other parents there since most of them work for the school system, but my work is always open and my husband just started a new job and doesn't have any time off available.

    Jasmine - thank you for your insight.  Don't mind Lalamama, she's always this way. 
    Yes but you realize schools aren't closed solely for the safety of the staff, right?  They close because roads are bad enough that they don't want children on them and your daycare provider is using their judgement on whether or not children should be on the roads.

    jasminelorraine20 I understand you're saying you went to school some days when it snowed but to say you're unfamiliar with the term "snow day?"  What did you/your school call it when you ever DID have a school closure due to severe inclement weather in the winter?  It had to have happened at least a few times in your entire school life.
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  • elmoali said:
    I don't use a daycare, but from what I understand, this is pretty standard. Welcome to life with kids...they can be inconvenient. Are you gonna gripe when he's in school and they close on snow days?
    No.  I think that is different.   An in home daycare where the caretaker doesn't have to leave home is very different than a school.  I think it should be up to the parents to decide whether it is or it is not safe to get them there.  Here in Maryland, school closes in the drop of a hat.  It is ridiculous.  We had 3 inches of snow and then a little sleet.  Driving this morning was fine, no ice and most of the roads were plowed.  Even the side roads were fine! Her daycare being closed  normally wouldn't affect a lot of the other parents there since most of them work for the school system, but my work is always open and my husband just started a new job and doesn't have any time off available.

    Jasmine - thank you for your insight.  Don't mind Lalamama, she's always this way. 
    Yes but you realize schools aren't closed solely for the safety of the staff, right?  They close because roads are bad enough that they don't want children on them and your daycare provider is using their judgement on whether or not children should be on the roads.

    jasminelorraine20 I understand you're saying you went to school some days when it snowed but to say you're unfamiliar with the term "snow day?"  What did you/your school call it when you ever DID have a school closure due to severe inclement weather in the winter?  It had to have happened at least a few times in your entire school life.

    When I moved to SC it never snowed so we never had a snow day there and in NY school only closed (due to weather) the years when we had an occasional blizzard, which was understandable. The other times we missed school were for other reasons- Brooklyn/Queens Day, 9/11 we were dismissed early and didn't attend school for the remainder of the week, ect. They never referred to it as snow day- just severe weather.
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  • elmoali said:
    I don't use a daycare, but from what I understand, this is pretty standard. Welcome to life with kids...they can be inconvenient. Are you gonna gripe when he's in school and they close on snow days?
    No.  I think that is different.   An in home daycare where the caretaker doesn't have to leave home is very different than a school.  I think it should be up to the parents to decide whether it is or it is not safe to get them there.  Here in Maryland, school closes in the drop of a hat.  It is ridiculous.  We had 3 inches of snow and then a little sleet.  Driving this morning was fine, no ice and most of the roads were plowed.  Even the side roads were fine! Her daycare being closed  normally wouldn't affect a lot of the other parents there since most of them work for the school system, but my work is always open and my husband just started a new job and doesn't have any time off available.

    Jasmine - thank you for your insight.  Don't mind Lalamama, she's always this way. 
    Yes but you realize schools aren't closed solely for the safety of the staff, right?  They close because roads are bad enough that they don't want children on them and your daycare provider is using their judgement on whether or not children should be on the roads.

    jasminelorraine20 I understand you're saying you went to school some days when it snowed but to say you're unfamiliar with the term "snow day?"  What did you/your school call it when you ever DID have a school closure due to severe inclement weather in the winter?  It had to have happened at least a few times in your entire school life.


    When I moved to SC it never snowed so we never had a snow day there and in NY school only closed (due to weather) the years when we had an occasional blizzard, which was understandable. The other times we missed school were for other reasons- Brooklyn/Queens Day, 9/11 we were dismissed early and didn't attend school for the remainder of the week, ect. They never referred to it as snow day- just severe weather.

     

    I guess a snow day is equivalent to what we called a "Winter Storm".

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  • I know we are just arguing semantics here but the official wording from school is usually, "Schools closed due to inclement weather," but every kid and adult I know yells, "SNOW DAY!!!!"

    Perhaps in your time in school in NYC there weren't many storms. I've lived outside of Philadelphia my entire life and they do have snow days - in fact, there is one today. Pretty much all public, parochial & private schools in the entire area are close for a....SNOW DAY!
    I get this. I was explaining my school experience. I'm no longer in school so I really don't care. I will understand the term when DS starts school, thanks again. Sheesh.
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  • I wouldn't be surprised if an in-home daycare closed on days when school was canceled, especially if she had older children.  She may be concerned about maintaining legal ratios, how to care for all the kids in case of an emergency (as PP said, what if she had to take a kid to the hospital?  Could she safely transport everyone?), and the parents getting stranded and not being able to pick their LO up.

    DD goes to a daycare center in Cambridge, MA, and they closed early once last year and closed completely once last year.  Both times, a snow emergency had been declared, and I completely understood the need to close.  So did my employer, who also closed our office.

    One of the downsides to an in-home, as opposed to a center, is being more subject to the whims, concerns, and issues of a single person.  If you don't like it, switch.  If she's otherwise awesome, as you said, then look at how you can make contingency plans (like WFH, a temp nanny, etc) during winter.
  • I'm not arguing that she shouldn't close if it is extreme weather conditions outside.  If it was extreme weather conditions outside, my job wouldn't open, and this wouldn't be an issue.  My argument is that she's closed when the schools are closed, and here in MD, they close at the drop of a hat.  We're talking 1 or 2 inches of snow....  They were closed yesterday.  They are closed today.  And both days I came in to work.  The roads are only wet and maybe a little slushy. This is not a blizzard or a big snow storm by any means.  There is no reason why I should have to make arrangements for daycare in a situation like today or yesterday.  She should be open.  She's at home and she doesn't have to go anywhere.   In the event of a medical emergency, an ambulance would be able to make it to her no problem.   I had to take my child to a friends house who lives 30 minutes away from me, rather than drive him down the road to our regular daycare place. As far as numbers of students... this wouldn't be an issue since she's not maxed out on the number of kids now.  
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  • Did you know about her weather closure policy when you started using the home daycare?
    Yes, I blame myself on this one.  It still sucks.
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  • Meanwhile in Michigan.... School remains open.
  • I'm not arguing that she shouldn't close if it is extreme weather conditions outside.  If it was extreme weather conditions outside, my job wouldn't open, and this wouldn't be an issue.  My argument is that she's closed when the schools are closed, and here in MD, they close at the drop of a hat.  We're talking 1 or 2 inches of snow....  They were closed yesterday.  They are closed today.  And both days I came in to work.  The roads are only wet and maybe a little slushy. This is not a blizzard or a big snow storm by any means.  There is no reason why I should have to make arrangements for daycare in a situation like today or yesterday.  She should be open.  She's at home and she doesn't have to go anywhere.   In the event of a medical emergency, an ambulance would be able to make it to her no problem.   I had to take my child to a friends house who lives 30 minutes away from me, rather than drive him down the road to our regular daycare place. As far as numbers of students... this wouldn't be an issue since she's not maxed out on the number of kids now.  

    MrsMuq said:
    I don't use a daycare, but from what I understand, this is pretty standard. Welcome to life with kids...they can be inconvenient. Are you gonna gripe when he's in school and they close on snow days?

    I certainly would gripe. I had to go to school on snow days. But I was also raised in NY where snow is normal. OP I think it's pretty ridiculous for the school system to shut down just because of rain. Where do you live?
    Every school has a threshold for when they will remain open. I grew up in NJ and we saw plenty of snow - but nothing like Minnesota or the Dakotas or somewhere like that. We had plenty of 2 hour delays and the occasional snow day. 

    Don't tell me schools in NY never close. Of course they do. Just not in the same circumstances as other places. 
    I never once said that schools in NY never close and I wasn't even talking to you. FYI I did have to go to school on snow days and that is what I said.
    Gettings snow does not equal a "snow day." A legit snow day is when the schools close because there's too much snow for it to be safe to travel.

    Going to school when there is snow on the ground or it's snowing out doesn't mean you went to school on a "snow day."

    And FWIW, schools in NY do close for snow, in certain circumstances, and for ice and for hurricanes and for nor'easters. I know - I actually grew up and currently live in NY.

    I do find it humorous when my friend in VA's schools close because they get an inch or two of snow, or rain, though, lol.
    I grew up in NY, lived in Queens for 17 years and SC for 2. So I am aware of how NYC schools operate and I am not saying that they don't close for snow, but when I was in school- snow was not one of the reasons that we were closed, unless it was a storm of some sort. I now understand the meaning of "SNOW DAY" but I was thinking of something else, like when you say VA closes for an inch of snow- I was clarfying that my school did not. Thank you.
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  • personally I would find it annoying. I went to an in-home daycare for years where her and her daughter were main employees so there was always coverage in bad weather. BEcause she didn't have to go anywhere, she only closed on holidays.  Not really understanding why she is closing on those days- did she explain it?
  • Nicb13 said:
    I'm kind of surprised this thread is still going on.....
    I know, right?
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