WEBVTT - What’s your winter back-up plan?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of My Heart Radio.

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<v Speaker 1>Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's tip is to think through your winter backup plan.

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<v Speaker 1>Between bad weather and illnesses, much can go wrong, but

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<v Speaker 1>if you anticipate obstacles ahead of time, you can stay

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<v Speaker 1>on track. I'm generally an optimistic person, but when it

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<v Speaker 1>comes to plans, I've discovered that it's useful to be

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<v Speaker 1>a pessimist. For instance, in general, air travel works great,

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<v Speaker 1>but whenever you try to connect, you double the chances

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<v Speaker 1>of late flights leaving you stranded. So if there aren't

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<v Speaker 1>direct flights out of Philadelphia, where I live to my destination,

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<v Speaker 1>I'll often drive to Newark to get one. It's an

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<v Speaker 1>extra fifty minutes in the car, but that beats getting

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<v Speaker 1>stuck for eight hours or overnight in O'Hare. Winter presents

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<v Speaker 1>all sorts of chances for things to go wrong, so

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<v Speaker 1>as with flying direct, it's wise to ask if there

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<v Speaker 1>are any little investments you can make now to prevent

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<v Speaker 1>misery or big time sinks later on. Here's one. My

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<v Speaker 1>family doesn't get in the car for winter trips without coats, hats,

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<v Speaker 1>and gloves. Sure we're going from a heated house to

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<v Speaker 1>a heated car to a heated location somewhere else. But

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<v Speaker 1>you never know when there could be an accident or

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<v Speaker 1>some reason you might have to get out of the car.

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<v Speaker 1>That would be bad enough with winter gear, without boots

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<v Speaker 1>and gloves, it might be really dangerous. Likewise, here's what

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<v Speaker 1>I learned the hard way. If you live somewhere that

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<v Speaker 1>snow is a possibility, never park your car on the

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<v Speaker 1>roof deck of a garage. Once in March, all was

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<v Speaker 1>sunny when I left for Seattle. I returned after midnight

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<v Speaker 1>a few days later to find my car bury did

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<v Speaker 1>not only the ten inches of snow that had fallen,

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<v Speaker 1>but the drifts that the plow had created as it

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<v Speaker 1>shoveled out the lanes. I should have checked the forecast

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<v Speaker 1>and hunted a little harder for a spot on a

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<v Speaker 1>lower level. Sleet and snow can create all sorts of

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<v Speaker 1>issues that behoove backup plans. For instance, if you have

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<v Speaker 1>school aged children, school maybe your default childcare for much

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<v Speaker 1>of the day. So if there are days of two

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<v Speaker 1>hour delays due to weather, how do you plan to

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<v Speaker 1>deal with them? How about early dismissals, or if school

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<v Speaker 1>is closed for snow. Of course, if school is closed

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<v Speaker 1>for snow, your office might be too. But your office

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<v Speaker 1>doesn't close. When a child is homesick from school or daycare.

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<v Speaker 1>What's your backup plan for that? It should be a

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<v Speaker 1>robust plan, Because it turns out little kids get sick

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<v Speaker 1>a lot. I didn't really appreciate this when I first

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<v Speaker 1>became a parent years ago. My husband and I put

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<v Speaker 1>are yet to be born first son on the list

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<v Speaker 1>for a great daycare within walking distance of our apartment.

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<v Speaker 1>This seemed like a perfect solution in our minds. This

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<v Speaker 1>meant our child care needs were solved. Then that first winter,

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<v Speaker 1>our son got sick for approximately five weeks total, nothing serious,

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<v Speaker 1>thank goodness, just low grade fevers and tummy troubles. But

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<v Speaker 1>these meant we'd wake up in the morning and realize

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<v Speaker 1>he couldn't go to daycare. This was stressful in terms

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<v Speaker 1>of trying to plan work. We wound up with several

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<v Speaker 1>backup sitters who had during the day availability on short notice.

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<v Speaker 1>We also wound up with an understanding that if I

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<v Speaker 1>covered more of the work week, my husband would have

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<v Speaker 1>the baby much of the weekend and I could work then.

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<v Speaker 1>Though it turns out no one wants to schedule a

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<v Speaker 1>meeting on Saturday afternoon, so long term this wasn't going

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<v Speaker 1>to work. This is why we hired a nanny by

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<v Speaker 1>the time our second son was born. Though this turns

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<v Speaker 1>out not to be fool proof either. Caregivers can get

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<v Speaker 1>sick too, so we need backup plans for that as well.

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<v Speaker 1>That said, i've met families that do manage the little

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<v Speaker 1>kid illness as well, even with school or daycare as

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<v Speaker 1>the primary childcare. Children are a shared responsibility, which means

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<v Speaker 1>that childcare is a shared responsibility and backup plans are

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<v Speaker 1>a shared responsibility too. On my blog recently, I profiled

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<v Speaker 1>a family that elected to split days when the kids

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<v Speaker 1>had to stay home. She might take the morning with

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<v Speaker 1>a sick child and he would take the afternoon. This

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<v Speaker 1>was inefficient in some ways because both parties had to

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<v Speaker 1>commute and both had to get ready, but the upside

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<v Speaker 1>was that neither had to take a full day off.

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<v Speaker 1>They would push meetings into the half day they had

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<v Speaker 1>in the office and log extra hours early or late

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<v Speaker 1>to get their most urgent to dos accomplished. I have

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<v Speaker 1>also seen couple split days of the week when each

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<v Speaker 1>is on call, so if a snow or sick day

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<v Speaker 1>happens on Monday or Tuesday, one parent covers. If it

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<v Speaker 1>happens on Wednesday or Thursday, the other parent covers. Maybe

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<v Speaker 1>Friday rotates. This way, both parties can triage their schedules

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<v Speaker 1>to aim to put anything unmis stable on the days

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<v Speaker 1>that they won't miss. Or maybe you're lucky enough to

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<v Speaker 1>have really reliable backup care like grandma living next door.

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<v Speaker 1>A loving caregiver who doesn't mind dealing with running noses

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<v Speaker 1>on short notice is something to celebrate in winter. As

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<v Speaker 1>for your own illnesses and managing teams who might be

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<v Speaker 1>dealing with illnesses and bad weather, the best thing you

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<v Speaker 1>can do as a backup plan is to work ahead.

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<v Speaker 1>It's rarely a good idea to leave things to the

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<v Speaker 1>last minute in general, but it's a particularly bad idea

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<v Speaker 1>during winter, when leaving just twenty four hours for a

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<v Speaker 1>key person to review a proposal is an invitation for

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<v Speaker 1>that person to be down for the count with the flu.

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<v Speaker 1>Aim to be done by at least a few days

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<v Speaker 1>before any big deadlines. That way, if something hits last minute,

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<v Speaker 1>you're good. If something hits earlier, you've got a buffer

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<v Speaker 1>to absorb the lost time and that can make everyone

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<v Speaker 1>feel far more calm. So today, take a few minutes

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<v Speaker 1>to think about what could go wrong this winter. Think

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<v Speaker 1>about systems and solutions you can come up with now

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<v Speaker 1>to minimize the fallout from these problems. Maybe nothing bad

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<v Speaker 1>will happen, but we live in the real world. Most

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<v Speaker 1>likely something will. Best to be prepared in the meantime.

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<v Speaker 1>This is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making

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<v Speaker 1>the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to

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<v Speaker 1>hear from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,

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<v Speaker 1>and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod that's b E the

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<v Speaker 1>number four, then Breakfast p o D. You can also

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<v Speaker 1>shoot me an email at Before Breakfast podcast at iHeart

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<v Speaker 1>media dot com. That Before Breakfast is spelled out with

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<v Speaker 1>all the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward to

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<v Speaker 1>staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of I

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