Hellobee Boards

1. My mom
2. A good friend who lives nearby and has similar age kiddos (if not because my kids are sick, although in the past she’s offered to take a sick kiddo and seclude with movies, so if I were desperate...)
3. My dad, but his job is super inflexible.

Ultimately; my husband is our biggest back-up. He works from home and can monitor DS1 (6) and still work. He’d have to take the day off for DS2 or DD, but it can be done.

I can usually rearrange anything I have planned or get a substitute if I’m teaching

I'm lucky to have a pretty deep roster.
If the kids are sick, I'd take a family care day (which DH and I each have 5/year).
Then my parents live 8 minutes away. My mom does shift work and my dad is self employed so often that works.
If not, I've got a cousin on maternity leave, one that works 3 days per week and one that's self employed 15 minutes away.
If that still fails, my parents sisters are 30 minutes away, and all four are retired.
With more notice, DH's parents are 2 hours away and could come stay.

First, ask my nanny to extend her hours, which she is able to do 95% of the time, even on short notice. Second, my mom who lives 5 minutes away and is retired. Third, my in laws who live 30 minutes away and are both retired. I generally will take half a sick day and split it with my nanny. DH job is also very flexible so sometime he and I will split days as well. If my kids are healthy, I can also bring them to work with me. We are lucky.

If they’re sick, it’ll be one of us. My parents live close by, but I’m not asking them to watch sick kids, unless it’s something not contagious. I get 12 sick days and 12 vacation days a year. If daycare is closed, my work participates I’m the bright horizons backup care program, which is a lifesaver! We get 15 days of backup care per year, for $15 per day.

ETA: if our preschool is closed for random days, not actual holidays, our former home daycare provider may be able to take them.

I'm lucky to work from home full time, so that gives me a lot of flexibility. If it was a day that I HAD to be in the office (pretty rare - only certain conferences and things), my parents and MIL are all local, so they'd be the first people I'd call.

My work also offers a back-up care benefit for emergencies, either dropping off at a center or providing someone in home. I've never had to use it because of the flexibility above, but I suppose I could if it was an absolute emergency.

My husband doesn't really travel for work, and I have minimal days where I'm required to be in the office, so thankfully for us, we don't run across emergency situations very often. That's a big reason for me to stay in this job, even when I get frustrated with it.