Storm of the Year

Yesterday we had what was billed to be the "Storm of the Year" by all the weathermen on every TV station, including the National News.  People were out buying bottled water, generators, toilet paper and flashlights.  It sounded like we were in for some really bad weather.

I live in Northern California.  We have had a drought for a few years so I guess people forgot what rain looks like.

Instead of the killer storm, we got some rain and a little bit of wind.  Nothing major.  Seriously, I'm happy about that, but what was annoying was I had 3-6 kids in every class absent because someone made it look like there was a message from the district saying that school was closed and all the kids showed their parents.  The parents who didn't bother to check the actual website, but trusted their kid, kept the kids home.  I had to make the choice, with finals being next week, to change my lesson plan that instead of teaching new material that I would have to reteach to 30 kids to do something those 30 kids could do on their own this weekend.  Sometimes parents don't realize that when they make a decision like letting a kid say home because it is raining, it has a domino effect, not only on their child's grade, but on all the teachers who will have to spend time reteaching the material.  Never a dull moment in the teaching profession!

So glad the storm wasn't anywhere near predicted.  I know some areas got it much worse with some flooding and mudslides.