Snow Day

I remember when I used to get excited about snow days. It meant no school for the day and I got to stay home and play all day with my 3 siblings. Now that I am a child care provider, I dread them. Snow days now mean that I will be working a full day, and usually I am working for multiple families at once. The snow day today was no exception.

I got the lovely phone call at 6am, a whole hour before I would knock my alarm off the bedside table to get it to shut up. All schools in the northern half of Michigan were closed. After some fancy phone work, I figured out a schedule for the day. I took on 2 families who agreed to me watching their children at the same time and turned down 3 other families who call me once in a blue moon. So off I was for the 12.5 hour day with absolutely no break.

I picked up 5 yr. old girl from her house and took her to family #2's house. Family #2 have a 5 yr. old boy and a 3.5 month old boy. The 5 yr. old's know each other from daycare, where I used to work, and the baby is a happy little guy who absolutely loves attention. The plan was perfect, the flaws were minimal, and I was looking forward to a good, yet tiring day. Then we got there. I find out that 3.5 month old has croup. It's not mild croup, it's not even moderate croup, no---it's severe croup. Not severe enough to put him in the hospital, but he's about one step away from being admitted. So the doctor's orders were to NOT lay him on his back at all and not let him cry. Now, he's not a big crier to begin with, so that wasn't really a problem, it was the not being able to lay him down that created a problem. I basically had one hand all day, and with two 5 yr. olds who are both vying for my attention, it was not at all easy. The only time I had possession of both of my hands was when I put the baby in the Snugli to make lunch for the 2 other kids. It wouldn't have been so bad if the baby didn't weigh 16 lbs.

So yeah, my back hurts from the Snugli, my arm hurts from carrying a baby all day, and I'm just plain tired. I am hoping beyond hope that school is in session tomorrow, because if it's not, I don't know what I am going to do. I am already booked from 8am-6:30pm, but you'd be amazed at how pissed off and rude parents can get when you won't stop your whole life just to accommodate them. Anywho, here's hoping to a full day of school tomorrow--if nothing else, just to get a mind break!