When Snow Days Meant Panic, Not Peace

There was a time when a snow day didn’t bring joy or cozy moments at home. It brought panic. When my children were young and I was working full time, the announcement of school closures sent my heart racing. Schools were closed. Daycare was closed. After-school programs were closed. And my parents didn’t live close by. 

Meanwhile, our companies still expected us to be at work. Coming in a little late was acceptable, but staying home was not. I didn’t have what people would call a “critical” job. I wasn’t in medicine. I wasn’t in public safety. I worked in Human Resources at a pharmaceutical company. Important work, yes, but not work that required my physical presence during a snowstorm while juggling childcare emergencies. 

 So when snow days happened, I didn’t start calling around for help, I took a personal day or I used a vacation day. Not because I wanted time off, but because I had no choice. As a single mom at the time, there was no partner to switch off with. The responsibility was entirely mine. Later in life, when I did have a partner, we could sometimes take turns. But even then, as the mom, I usually ended up using my vacation time the most. 

What made it even more stressful was that we technically had “Work Life Balance” procedures. On paper, they were meant to support employees. In reality, if we needed time off, we were required to come up with a plan to make up that time. The message was clear. You could be away, but the work didn’t go away. There was no working from home. No Zoom meetings. No flexible schedules. No logging in from the kitchen table while kids played nearby. If you weren’t in the office, you were considered absent.For parents, especially working parents, snow days felt less like a break and more like a penalty. 

Looking back now, I realize how much unnecessary stress was placed on families Today, many people can work remotely when weather hits. Meetings shift online. Emails replace office visits. Work still gets done, often just as effectively, without forcing parents into impossible choices. The world didn’t fall apart because people weren’t physically in the building. In fact, many companies discovered something important. Flexibility works. 

 Back then, we didn’t have that option. Instead, we quietly absorbed the burden, using our own time, our own days off, and then working extra hours to make up for it. Since I used the days as personal or vacation days, I took them seriously. We played outside, made cookies and hot chocolate. The kids still remember those days too. 

 For many parents of my generation, they were filled with anxiety. And the truth is, much of that stress was unnecessary. The systems simply weren’t built with families in mind. I’m grateful that today’s parents often have more flexibility. It’s not perfect, but better. I hope companies continue learning that productivity doesn’t require rigid rules that ignore real life. Because raising children is already challenging enough. We don’t need snowstorms turning into emotional emergencies.Sometimes progress isn’t about working harder. It’s about working smarter and kinder.