Today the public workers within the educational system are on strike. Yesterday was Sunday, tomorrow is a holiday and the weather is awesome. Hmm……..

But OK sometimes some people go on strike and I don’t have much against it; they probably do it for a reason. I haven’t lived in my country of birth (Denmark) for many years, but I imagine a strike would take place more or less like this:

A strike would be announced way before it happens, so that the people who will be affected by it (in this case parents who have to go to work) have time to prepare alternative solutions. Most likely the parents will be informed digitally – and reminded closer to the day the strike takes place.

Here is the Portuguese version: The day before (on a Sunday) it was announced that there would be a strike today Monday. The strike would affect some – but not all – schools. So how can we as parents know if we need to take our kids to school or not? Do we get a message telling us if our schools are affected or not? Nope. Is there a website or social media you can subscribe to which will let you know? Nope. Can you call the school or some administrative office to know? Nope. …So what to do? Drive 15 km in morning traffic (together with all the other parents), to find out the school is closed when you get there. Then head back home with kids in the backseat.

As said so done….. and then onto cancelling/postponing the three meetings I had planned, brew more coffee and figure out what to do with the day. (Alongside with daydreaming about bombing the local school administration headquarters) 😉

It ended up being a teamwork experience where we cleaned and organized (parts of) the garage and the tons of tools, bicycle parts, nuts and bolts, paint and wood protector that was hiding in all corners. I also introduced the kids to the game “Mastermind” and got them to burn off some brain energy. Guess the day was not that wasted after all….

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