Four snow days. In one week. With little to no actual snow.
Didn't matter. Ice was present on some roads. Single-digit temperatures and below-zero wind chills were present in the early-morning, bus-catching hours. So every school system in Southeast Tennessee and North Georgia closed down. While protecting students and school employees from potential danger (and school systems from potential litigation should something bad happen), the snow days forced parents to juggle their schedules, their kids, their sanity.
On the Times Free Press Facebook page, we asked parents to tell us how they handled the no-school days. Did they stay home with their kids? Call Grandma or Grandpa? Ship them off to neighbors who also had kids?
"Wine. Lots of wine," says Brooke Radovich.
Aaron Moyer says jokingly (uh ... we think): "Lock them outside for a couple hours, and tell them to scavenge for themselves. It builds character. My kids know how to skin and cook a squirrel using only their bare hands and some sticks. They're ready for the end of the world."
When snow days fall on her, Pee Wee McGee works in cooperation with family and friends to create a centralized day care for everyone children.
"We try to rotate who stays with the kids and turn it into family day care, watching all the kids of friends and family," she says. "Means playmates for the kids and the adults split hours or days. It's the most tolerable to everyone -- including the jobs."
Most stay-at-home moms said they relished the time they got to spend with their kids ... to a point. But parents with jobs admitted that having to stay home from work, sometimes with no pay, was stressful. Nerves were even more frayed if their bosses weren't the understanding type.
"It's pretty easy because I can stay home," says Marissa Monroe McCauley. "It's my patience, more than anything, that gets tested. There are only so many crafts and games you can play before you just throw your hands up and say, 'Whatever, watch TV for the next few hours!'"
Sherry Walker Long is a stay-at-home mom who has used the off days to watch movies with her son and go out to dinner and a movie. But she's sympathetic to mothers and fathers who must go to work because their boss insists. When she was at her last job, her son was a toddler in pre-kindergarten and "catching every kind of sickness that you can think of."
"In February of 2008, he had the flu and pneumonia at the same time," she says. "He had a febrile seizure during that time due to his fever. I was out a week with him. I remember talking with my boss and telling how sick my son was and that I would be able to come back to work when he is well enough. They weren't concerned for my child and, due to being out with him, they let me go about a month later.
"There are a lot of bosses out there that don't give a hoot who's sick. It's hard on parents. Employers expect you to choose them over your family. Yeah, right!"
The after-school care provided by the Hamilton County school system is usually a lifesaver for Darlene Denton Dormire and her son, but when schools are closed, so is the system's day care.
"I'm a single mom. My ex lives in Florida. My mom and brother live here, but both work full-time," she says. "It's a pain because I have to stay home. I don't have any other choice. I think employers should be more forgiving of that. (Kids') safety comes before any job. It's just a part of life with kids."
When she's off work, Tricia Whaley Sewell gets paid, but her husband doesn't.
"I have responsibilities at my job as well as home and finding a sitter is not easy when everyone else has jobs, too, with no family support," she says. "It sucks."
Heather Brame is "exhausting all of my sitters and family" trying to find people to watch her kids. Her job won't let her off due to weather, so she asks a favor of stay-at-home moms: "Remember your friends that work and offer to help out here and there."
Wanda Carroll Morris considers herself lucky because her employer "is compassionate and understanding of my circumstances."
"Like it or not, child care or not, payday or not, I need to be home with my family this time -- too many variables for me," says Morris, who has two kids in elementary school and "a health-compromised husband." "I'm grateful for an employer that can let me do this."
Christy Hernandez has a simple solution for her four kids, who range from 3 to 11 years old, but it's one that may grate on parents who aren't as lucky. "Take them swimming at my mom's work in their indoor pool ... LOL ... true story," she says.
Pat Hagan's children are all in their 30s now and out of the house, but he remembers a quick solution to snow days: "Duct tape them to a chair and go to work."
"I was kidding around with my post ... but it's how we parents feel sometimes in a moment of crisis," he says.
Contact Shawn Ryan at sryan@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6327.