As I woke up during the Winter Break, I head the following: “Massive storm front coming to Boston…” “Snowfall predicted to be 8-12″ tomorrow…” “Many school districts will be shut…” I shut off the radio and go online to check what school districts are closed.  I’ve been lucky so far.  Every snow day for the children has been during vacation.  However, I live in dread of the day when my son’s public school and the daycare my kids go to are shuttered, but UMB is open for classes.  This is not very likely.  Medford is usually closed when Boston is and vice versa.  Still, I can’t discount the snow playing gotcha!  This isn’t a case of extreme dread.  My children are my top priority and more important than anything I might do on campus.  There’s no two ways about it and that’s the way it should be for any parent in college; my teachers will have to deal with it, and generally do.  I do make a strong effort to make it to my classes and they are aware of this.  Of course, not all teachers allow for absences.  In the case of summer courses and once-a-week courses this is eminently understandable, as there’s a lot of information coming every single session.  Regular semester courses, though, are a different story. This semester’s teachers range from the moderate “Please come as there might be a pop quiz,” to the relatively strict “Absences are absences regardless of the reason; if you are more than so many minutes late you will be counted as absent; and if you accumulate too many absences you will not pass my class.”  Fortunately, every teacher I’ve had have been upfront about their absence policy.  Unfortunately, the strictest policy makes no allowances for being a parent.  Let’s face it: children have accidents.  Children get sick.  Sometimes children have to go see the doctor.  And sometimes your daycare can’t care for your child.  It’s simply how modern parenting works, or sometimes doesn’t. Some teachers will make allowance for you to bring your child to class with you if you can ensure your offspring will stay reasonably quiet and well-behaved.  This was an attendance-saver for me last semester when I had a sick child and no alternate means of childcare.  In those cases, having headphones, a computer with a player and a couple of DVDs my son likes proved extremely helpful.  I’m not going to be able to count on that this semester, though.  One of my classes with a very strict attendance policy also has a very strict no-electronics policy, meaning that in the rather unlikely event I have to bring a small child with me I will have to deal with outbursts from a bored little redhead who would much rather watch a DVD or play with Lincoln Logs or otherwise get my attention instead of sitting quietly through something they don’t really understand.  This is done to keep students from electronic and Web-based distractions from learning, although it does put a crimp in any electronic note-taking.  I will need to talk with teachers about bringing a child to class should the need arise.  Hopefully it won’t this semester. My biggest worries about the cold and snow are bundling up my children to keep warm.