Snow Day: Equals Big Headache for Single Parents!

As a kid, a snow day is like a present, like ice cream and chocolate syrup, like a sleep over with your best friend; a snow day for a single parent is a hair pulling event.

I remember when my kids were small and there were snow days, it was so stressful. I didn’t have any family and I was all alone. The friends that I had were married, had family members near by or didn’t have kids. Even when I was married there were no family members around and my then husband couldn’t take time off of work to care for them. As you can imagine my job is a bit difficult to get time off because of a snow day, I am not complaining, I love my job; my job is to inform and entertain. One of the most important days for me on the radio was a snow day.

Today my kids are grown and nearly grown, at home are a junior and a sophomore. A snow day for this age group is sleeping in, watching tv, playing Xbox and eating. (unless of course mom texts a chores list to assure they don’t turn into jello while she is away-yes, I did)

When I went to bed last night or early this morning; I am a night owl, I thought about the days when the possibility of a snow day frightened me. Seems like a big word, frightened, but when you are living paycheck to paycheck, it’s a real big word. There are more options today than when my kids were small or maybe its just because the social networking has gotten so big. There are groups of people that live without family members near by. People that are single with one or more children that get the same fears about a snow day. And the good news is that these ‘social’ communities are a great source to lean on in times like this. It’s like putting the village to work for a greater cause, and you don’t have to feel guilty or like you are taking advantage of them as you will be there when they need you too.

When I was looking around I found a really great group of people, No Co Single Parent Families. What a great idea, bring people with like lives and joys and concerns together. On their website they talk about the journey of single parenting. They speak of the balance and energy needed and how you don’t have to do it alone. I wish so badly that there was this type of group or that I knew of this type of group when I was so much younger and scared about losing my job on a snow day because I didn’t know what to do with my kids. There website is filled with so many great ideas, supp0ort avenues, activities and the like. No, I am not affiliated with them, I don’t even know them, I just know a really cool thing when I see it, and this is a cool thing.

If you ever feel all alone on a snow day or a Tuesday maybe expanding and creating your ‘family’ away from family here in northern Colorado is the answer. I only share this because I have been there and although some are doing the snow dance of happy, sometimes a snow day isn’t so happy for others. Click on the link above to learn more.