Today finds the Fond du Lac area dealing with some lovely, yet problem causing snow. For the general population, we are concerned with getting from place to place. Contemplating if we should drive to the store or to work, and trying to gauge the risks.
There is a more specific population that I am considering today though. I have been getting visits from student's in a Women's Study course at UW Fond du Lac. They are approaching women's issues as service-learners; and are right now, in the process of finding local needs of this subset of the population.
As I brainstorm with them, an issue specific of this moment for us in Fond du Lac is school closings. There are a lot of women in the area that are dealing with their children being out of school or not being able to go to after school activities and after school clubhouses. It often falls on the women to take care of this issue, as they are either the sole provider for their child, or they aren't the "bread winner" in the family.
I'm actually dealing with this myself. My children (I have 3) have had their after school activities cancelled. I work until 5pm, work isn't cancelled. Their activities occupy the time frame of 3-5:30. Which on a normal day is just right. I am forced with a choice of leaving work early as they are too young to stay home alone, or... well... no other viable alternatives really exist.
This is the same scenario that occurs on a day that my children are sick. There is no one other than me that can take care of them. Daycare is not set up to accept children that may never arrive. School is not set up to deal with a sick child. Most workplaces frown on the worker that calls in sick because a parent is being a parent.
This is just a bit of food for thought. I don't have a great solution, but would like to know how issues like this impact you and people that you know. Perhaps if we brainstorm together we can come up with a solution.
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