As this article points out - schools observe the holiday but only 10% of businesses close.  As an employee of a non-profit agency, we have only a handful of holidays, and this isn't one of them.  Parents are left scrambling between bringing kids to work

The inconsistent response makes Columbus Day a mixed blessing for many families. Sarah Schapiro, a fourth grader at Public School 212 in Manhattan, said she would spend her day off in the office where her mother works as an accountant.

or leaning on family members

Judi Moccia, a choreographer, said she would have to ask her mother to spend the day with her 5-year-old daughter, Ying, because hiring a baby sitter would be too expensive.

or finding other solutions. I got lucky this year - my DH decided to take my DS on a boys' trip to visit his family.

Today I got a flyer from my son's afterschool program about their "holiday programs" - at least someone is benefitting from this inconsistency - the childcare programs!

But one irony - this article didn't mention the most important and inconsistent "holiday".....Election Day.  Schools are often closed (NYC schools are) but no one else has that day off - which is like a double punishment - we should have election day as a Federal Holiday anyway!