This past December a busy attorney named Valentina and her 10-year-old son, Marco, moved into their new home in New England.  The winter season was already in full effect, and a massive snowstorm swept through the area the morning after they moved, closing all the schools.

Although young students like Marco suddenly had the day off from school, Valentina still needed to visit her office for a couple hours to finish up some important paperwork with a new client.  So, despite the snowstorm, Valentina drove to work, leaving Marco in their nearly snowed-in home to write a short essay that was assigned by his teacher to make up for the missed school day.

Shortly after Valentina arrived at her office she received a text message from Marco that read: “Windows completely frozen.  Will not open.”

Valentina squinted at her phone in confusion, because she couldn’t fathom why Marco wanted to open any of the windows.  But she was really busy and (more…)