My heart bleeds right now for the parents of all the kids that were hurt and killed this week during tornadoes. Days like this make me pull mine closer, and make me very glad we homeschool. I realize the parents of these kids could do nothing to protect them, and I fault no one in the disasters, but when my kids were in school, I remember to trauma that was caused to my kids and me, just from a tornado warning. I would not wish days like that on my worst enemy.
Four years ago, when my kids were in public school, we had tornado warnings all day. They started almost as soon as I got home from the bus stop. I wanted to turn back and pick them up, and called the school, who assured me that chances of a tornado hitting the school were low. I was anxious all day, and then tornados started to hit an hour from my home. I called the school again and said I was coming to get them, and was told I would not be let in; the children were locked down in tornado position in the halls. I was panicked, but all I could do was wait.
When the storms ended, my kids were finally dismissed. I had to wait in my car for hours at the bus stop because no on knew the order in which the kids would come. When my kids got off the bus, my son was in hysterics and my daughter was crying. They had been on their knees in the school hall for hours terrified that they might die. (They could have as the school was not a storm shelter.) Instead of letting me bring my kids home, or releasing early, someone made a decision in a vacuum that may have very well been best for all of the kids, but certainly not best for each individual child. The school did their best, but for us, it felt like the worst.
Yesterday as the state experienced a similar day, I held my breath worrying about all the kids who wanted to be with their parents and all of the parents who wanted to be with their kids. As the evening came to an end I breathed a sigh of relief knowing that while there could very well still be a tornado, at least the parents would feel empowered to protect their kids (even if that meant taking refuge at a school together). Then I got a call.
My SIL and her three children were in a car accident coming home from a school event. A school event was not cancelled on a day when the possibility for tornadoes was high. There was a school event on a day when driving visibility was horrible, and so, my family members were in a car accident. They are fine, but sore, and the car is still drivable, but I do not understand why this program was not cancelled and the kids were not sent home at the normal time that evening. I do not understand why the event was not postponed. Personally, I am glad decisions for my kids are not made in the schools vacuum, but by us.
Read: Have You started To Prepare