When you’re a kid, delayed or, even better, canceled classes are a real treat. As a working parent, however, that call or message from the school can set off alarm bells. How are you going to get your job done and adapt to the kids' disrupted schedule?
We set out to explore how moms and dads deal with this unforeseen challenge, and put together a collection of posts where they hilariously sum up their struggles.
From organizing impromptu indoor activities to coming up with excuses for their boss, continue scrolling to check out what it's all about and while you're at it, don't miss the chat we had with Bored Panda's parenting expert and award-winning TV broadcaster and author, Vicki Broadbent — you'll find it in between the images.
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"Snow days can be incredibly disruptive to all," Vicki Broadbent, who runs the acclaimed family lifestyle blog Honest Mum, told Bored Panda.
"Schools and offices/workplaces often close and parents must react quickly, ensuring we can care for our kids, canceling meetings, not making deadlines or trying to combine childcare with work expectations, if that's even possible," Broadbent, author of Mumboss (UK) and The Working Mom (US and Canada), added.
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Vicki Broadbent thinks that authorities and businesses in many places across the world are not entirely geared up for the extreme weather we've been experiencing lately.
"Transport often shuts down, it's not safe to be on the road, and childcare institutions from nurseries to schools close their doors," she said.
"Things are likely to become more disruptive as climate change and extreme weather continue to affect the world. Post-pandemic, some workplaces have continued to accommodate employees with a more flexible working approach as well as by encouraging remote working, but some are equally regressing back to expecting you to physically be at work."
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Many parents share Broadbent's sentiment. According to research from the Pew Research Center, moms and dads tend to have trouble when balancing their jobs and their family obligations.
Among all working parents with children under the age of 18, more than half (56%) say that this task is difficult for them, while another 14% claim it's actually very difficult, and 42% find it somewhat difficult.
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Working mothers (60%) are a bit more likely than fathers (52%) to say it’s difficult for them to balance work and family, and this is particularly the case for moms who work full time.
In fact, one in five full-time working moms say balancing the two is very difficult for them, compared with 12% of dads who work full time and 11% of moms who work part time.
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Vicki Broadbent thinks there should be a systemic change. "I believe businesses need to be more accommodating and understanding when parents face snow," she said.
"Annual leave should be an option, or simply accepting working might require greater flexibility and extended deadlines."
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"When it comes to children, whether you can work around them is based on their age and maturity," the Honest Mum explained. "Some kids can happily work from their own device, watch movies on it, or read, but the younger they are, the greater their needs, and in many cases, parents will struggle to fit work around keeping their child safe and cared for."
"I think employers must be reasonable and must understand that extreme weather is out of the control of the parent. They should have measures in place to support the working parent also," Vicki Broadbent, who is raising a teen, a tween, and a toddler, concluded.
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