Snow Days

Before I became an administrator I used to love snow days. We seldom had them in my district and I would do a little dance to celebrate when we had one. Now as an administrator i do not get snow days. I am expected to show up rain or shine unless I want to burn a vacation day.

This year the District has had at least three which is more than anyone can remember. I joke with staff that i will be seeing them on the 4th of July. Tuesday night temperatures plummeted and there were wind chills of up to minus fourty. Wednesday morning a significant number of the district busses did not start and so school was again cancelled.

I had had a full agenda scheduled for Wednesday and on Tuesday felt like I might drown because Monday I had been summoned to the Superintendent's office to discuss a very political work initiative that left me scrambling to gather data, prepare a response, inform staff etc. All of this on a day I was scheduled to be at a workshop.

Wednesday I felt overwhelmed, I was awake at 5:00 AM and the weather was on. To hear the weathermen tell it the world was ending and we should all stay home. I was tempted but did not want to give up a vacation day. I anticipated the drive would be terrible. I decided to go in and I used the remote statr to warm the car. As I went to work I felt such a feeling of elation. The car was warmer then most mornings as I usually conserve fuel by not preheating. The road was drier then most winter days because of the cold and wind speeds. The two inches of snow that was supposed to have come was not there to be whipped around. The agenda was cleared by the cancelation of school and I was able to focus on just the things that had been dumped on top of a full plate without worrying about the plate!

It actually felt really good to be at work and it helped get the workload back in balance so maybe a snow day dance is still in order.