Growing up in a small town, when it snowed, we either had school or we didn't. If it started snowing mid-day, we might get an early dismissal. Living in the city now, we've discovered the "snow schedule." That basically means starting later than normal with the hope that the roads will be clearer and traffic will be better. The problem is that when every school in the city is on snow schedule, it just moves rush hour back by two hours.
This past week, we had another 4 or 5 inches of snow that fell Tuesday afternoon and evening. The kids school closed a couple hours early, so I was fortunate that my office had let us go home early to work from home as well. Then, on Wednesday morning, I got up early in anticipation of slow traveling on the roads. I watched the school closings scroll across the bottom of the news screen, and did not see our kids' daycare listed. By 6:30, we were all piled in the car and driving only slightly slower than usual on the snowy roads. I was on it, and I was going to be at work on time by 7:30.
We arrived at the daycare downtown at 7:10, only 10 minutes after they open. Something looked amiss. There were tons of parking spots open on the street and in the lot across the street. There were no lights on in the building. I paused, and took a good look around. There wasn't one person to be seen. I called Billy to see if he was still at home. He was and looked at Facebook, and at approximately 6:30, the daycare had posted that they'd be on the "snow schedule" today. The late start wasn't even posted before I left the house.
By that time, it was approximately 7:20. I couldn't drop the kids off until 9:30. I was more than a little perturbed. I was going to be late to work. So, I called my boss. She kindly recommended that I bring them to work for the couple hours. It was a brilliant idea. I could feed them breakfast in the cafeteria and they could say hello to my coworkers.
I pulled away and headed to work. I was going to make the most of this, but that didn't prevent me from being pretty frazzled. In the parking garage, it was so weird to unload my kids with me in addition to my purse and computer. Audrey was a little timid with the revolving door to exit the parking garage, and Barrett snuggled close to me while we walked from the garage to the front door in the frigid wind. I let Audrey go first into the revolving door to enter the Bank; she moved reluctantly, which meant she wasn't quite all the way in the door when it turned. Her boot got stuck. One of the law enforcement officers had to pry the door, but she was freed and unharmed. I was too relieved that she wasn't injured to be embarrassed by the lobby full of people gawking at us as they waited to go through security.
Once we made it through security, we dropped off our coats in my office and headed to the cafeteria. I was struck by how Barrett didn't know what to do on the elevator. Audrey spent the first three years of her life living where elevators were part of our daily commute. Barrett, however, rarely sees them.
Once up in the cafeteria, Audrey chose what she wanted to eat and we ordered our food. Some kind coworkers helped me get the food to a table, and Barrett shoved biscuits and gravy into his mouth while Audrey played with her waffle. Some more coworkers stopped by and chatted while they ate. I was starting to relax and get less frazzled. We spent the next hour walking through the department where I work. Barrett was extremely timid anytime we were talking to people. However, as soon as we got into an empty elevator, hallway, or my office, he reverted back to his normal wild-man personality. One of my coworkers gave him a little rubber duck, and initially he just smiled at her and held the duck tightly to his chest while he snuggled against me. When we got to my office where it was just us, he was running around saying "squeak, squeak" and shoving the duck in his sister's face.
After a bit more socializing and visiting with my coworkers, I was able to get them to school. When I picked Audrey up from school later that day and asked her what she thought of my work, she responded with three things. First, she was glad she wore the outfit she had on because so many people complimented her on it. Second, my work has a big cafeteria with lots of good food. And last, she liked coloring with highlighters in my office (at home she has to use her markers to draw) and was glad that I put the picture she made up on my desk. I couldn't help but smile.
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