Strollerderby

VIDEO-Obama Kids Say DC Schools Are Wimpy

Posted by Brett Singer

That's not exactly what they said… well, actually it kind of is. And as a New York parent (formerly a New York kid) I think I even agree. (In a joking way, of course. More on that later.)

The President, during a light-hearted moment at a meeting with business leaders the other day (this was before he spoke out against Wall Street bonuses; I doubt the mood would have been so cordial if it was after that), made a comment about Sasha and Malia's school being closed:

"As my children pointed out, in Chicago school is never canceled. In fact my seven-year-old pointed out that you'd go outside for recess. You wouldn't even stay indoors. So, it's--I don't know, we're going to have to try to apply some flinty Chicago toughness."



In one of my first posts for Babble almost a year ago, I wondered if my children would ever have a snow day. The answer, sadly (sad for them, good for me), is that they may never experience the joy of "NO SCHOOL TODAY!" But while part of the reason could be global warming related, some of it is just that New York schools rarely close for weather.

Note: obviously, I don't really think that DC schools are wimpy, and I don't think the President does either. The President's comments were not warmly received by many in the DC area, but I really think he was making a joke. (Kind of like me saying "warmly" received. Get it? G'night, ladies and germs.) And of course it snows a lot more in other parts of New York State.

Also: I hate to keep repeating myself, but I'm still impressed at how at ease Obama seems to be, and how much like a "regular dad" he is. Granted, if his kids have to stay home from school, he's not the one who has to hang out and play board games with them. But he's not exactly removed from the situation either. He appears to be a parent who is involved with his kids. I like that.

Aside: what's the over-under on how many comments are left before someone posts something about Obama's birth certificate? One? Two?

Source: Politico

Read more:

Why You Should Check Even Little Kids Homework

Paging NY State Education: It Snows There

Babble Podcast for January 26, 2009 (now with a working player)

VIDEO: O'Reilly Upset About Two Year Old Bashing Bush

Morning News - Obama, Limbaugh, Cheese

Sasha and Malia Get Bored

Obama Wants Kids To Have a Normal Life – Good Luck With That

Sasha and Malia Beanie Baby Dolls


+ DIGG + STUMBLE

Comments

 

Shannon LC Cate said:

It's true!  As a Midwestern child who grew up to be a DC public school teacher, I can attest to the wimpiness of DC schools.  A flake in the air=late opening.  A flake on the ground=snow day!

I didn't mind a bit when I was teaching though.  Slept in gladly.

January 30, 2009 6:32 PM
 

Manjari said:

Hmmm, I'm going to have to move to DC and teach there.

January 30, 2009 7:08 PM
 

gpgirl said:

"...in Chicago school is never cancelled." Really? I grew up in Chicago, and we had lots of snow days. Of course, that was when we had those terrible blizzards in the late 70's. Still, I was surprised to read that.

January 30, 2009 8:06 PM
 

NoVa Mommy said:

Having lived in the DC area for over ten years, I can attest to the fact that we are wimpy. When I was a teacher, I LOVED the wimpiness. (Who doesn't love to sleep in?? And a paid day off? Heaven!) But as a parent, it's HORRENDOUS to have so many "snow" days, especially when it's no big deal to get out of the house in an inch of snow.

January 30, 2009 8:42 PM
 

GOPster said:

Oh, yeah.  These are really tough kids.  I'm sure that back in Chicago they were beating up other kids for their lunch money, picking pockets, knew all the short cuts through alleys for dodging pursuing flat-feet...real bad'ns I'm sure.

Give me a break.

January 31, 2009 5:21 AM
 

Manjari said:

GOPster, you get that the topic here is schools being "wimpy" about SNOW, right? You do know how to read, don't you?

January 31, 2009 8:36 AM
 

leahsmom said:

I totally agree with the above - DC schools ARE wimpy about snow! I remember the first time they called schools when I lived there, as a college student - I looked out my window and totally cracked up.  I was like, you're kidding!

February 2, 2009 9:27 AM

About Brett Singer

Brett Singer is a writer and father living in Manhattan with his wonderful wife and two terrific sons (referred to here as Thing 1 and Thing 2). He writes about music for the Boston Phoenix, parenting for Babble and daddytips.com, and other topics for anyone else who will have him.

in

GROUP BLOGS

  • Strollerderby

    The smartest, funniest, most exhaustive parenting blog in the blogosphere.
  • Droolicious

    Modern design for modern parents.
  • FameCrawler

    Your daily baby celebrity fix.
back to blog homepage