Anonymous wrote:Realize how big counties are, and how varied plow services, school closings, actual weather, and other factors can be.

Considering entire states manage this just fine, that's not a really good excuse. This area just doesn't care to prepare itself and would rather shut down than spend the money to prepare for winter storms. Thats fine, you just have to deal with it, but it is always going to be annoying to those of us who have lived in places where, for example, schools never close if it's snowy or icy, they only close if it's too cold to stand out at the bus stop (and that's well below freezing).

Anonymous wrote:If you were referring to today the conditions were icy and dangerous. Cars were flipping over and it was not safe to drive.

I think OP's point is that the roads would never even have gotten to that point if the local governments pretreated the roads and were plowing/salting all night long, but they don't do that here.

Welcome to life in the DC area! I'm a midwesterner married to someone who grew up in the mountains and it was initially infuriating. Now we've resigned ourselves to the fact that this will happen once or twice a year.

Anonymous wrote:DC folks are huge babies when it comes to snow.

- Hearty Midwesterner

This is getting old. You are "hearty" because you get more and are used to it. You arent superior but if it makes you feel better go for it.

When FCPS is closed, I give the nanny the day off as a courtesy. She's in her 60s and I don't want her driving out if its unsafe. She only works 4 days per week, though, and is usually flexible with making up a day if she gets a snow day. e.g., will work the Friday that she's off instead.

If you were referring to today the conditions were icy and dangerous. Cars were flipping over and it was not safe to drive.

No, not usually. But the first snow of the season, whether large or small, usually shuts everything down, while everyone remember how to handle it. This wasn't exactly the first snow but it seemed like it would be the first non-bust. Oh well.

The snow today was kinda BS and ordinarily our daycare wouldn't have closed. I was irritated because DH and I both had work to do and my kids fought loudly all day.

Realize how big counties are, and how varied plow services, school closings, actual weather, and other factors can be.

Read the entitled nannies thread for a good (but sickening) laugh.

Yes. Get used to it. We moved from Boston too. The standards are not the same.

DC folks are huge babies when it comes to snow.

- Hearty Midwesterner

Have you been out on the roads at all? We got a lot of ice. It was not safe to drive.

It's because they forecasted so much more snow than actually happened. Yes, things close a lot (too much) here but not usually on a day like this.

We recently moved from Boston and things would have been business-as-usual with such a light dusting as today. But here in VA, daycares close and nannies say they can’t travel, even though it’s a light snowfall! We are WFH so that still continues, and we have to juggle kids or cancel meetings. Should we just set our mind to accepting it?