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" Sure, snow days are delightful for kids, but they can send a working mom into a panic. What exactly can you do when the kids are off from school and you really, really need to get to work? Try these smart solutions from Good Housekeeping \u2014 culled from experts and regular moms like you \u2014 so snow days won&amp;#039;t leave you feeling, well, snowed under. 1. Forge a household plan To avoid making hasty decisions on hectic snow-day mornings, arrange a who-watches-the-kids plan with your spouse in advance. Set up a trade-off where you agree that if one of you must be at work on a snow day, the other will cover for you and then get to take care of business the next time around, suggests Ellen Galinsky, president of the Families and Work Institute. Or consider splitting the time into morning and afternoon shifts, so each of you can get in some on-the-job hours. 2. Network with your neighbors Another way to plan for snow days in advance: Form a child-care club with other working parents in your neighborhood. Laura Lowell, author of 42 Rules for Working Moms: Practical, Funny Advice for Achieving Work-Life Balance, explains that establishing a group of working women who are all in the same boat helps everyone ride the waves of child-care duty \u2014 and in an economical way. &amp;quot;I&amp;#039;ll call up my mom friends on snow-day mornings, and we&amp;#039;ll decide who can take the kids,&amp;quot; she says. &amp;quot;Then someone else will volunteer to have them over for a Friday night pizza party, so it all evens out in the end.&amp;quot; 3. Talk to HR about backup-care options Ask your company&amp;#039;s HR department about backup-care policies before the next winter storm watch; you may be pleasantly surprised. According to the Families and Work Institute, six percent of companies offer backup-care plans for employees when regular child care falls through. Many are partnered with the Work Options Group, a backup-care corporation that allows employees to drop their kids off in a licensed center or have a trained professional come to their home. 4. Line up a Plan B If none of the above options pan out, find your own backup child-care provider. Galinsky recommends these emergency options:  Child Care Aware, 800-424-2246, is a national organization that will put you in touch with local backup-care groups and sitter options, all of which have been prescreened. Some companies offer Bright Horizons, 866-273-2773, as their backup-care provider, but Bright Horizons also has many centers nationwide that are available to the public. United Way, dial 211 (a number that serves 48 states and Washington, D.C.), is the national United Way emergency hotline, which can put you in touch with local child-care resources.  5. Talk to your boss Another option: Call your boss and offer a couple of possible solutions \u2014 such as working from home or coming in midday after you&amp;#039;ve gotten your kids settled at a child-care provider. &amp;quot;Ask, &amp;#039;Which option would work best for you?&amp;#039;&amp;quot; suggests Galinsky. This shows that you take your job commitment seriously and are being proactive about devising a solution. 6. Bring your kids to work Not the most desirable scenario, but sometimes this is the best option. Consider these tips from human resources executives we polled: Get permission from your boss first; bring in toys or books to keep kids occupied; and if you don&amp;#039;t have an office, ask if you can work in a conference room or other space so you can help keep them busy and relatively quiet.  7. Let teens hang out at home If your kids are old enough and responsible enough to be home alone, of course you&amp;#039;ll tell your teens to lock the doors, keep in touch with you throughout the day, and call 911 in case of an emergency. Here are a couple of lesser-known tips from Stacy DeBroff, author of The Mom Book:  Tell your kids not to cook. Leave premade sandwiches in the fridge. Restrict their digital lives. Let them know that you&amp;#039;ll track the Websites they went to when you get home, or simply disconnect the Internet connection for the day.  Yes, dealing with snow days can send even the most on-top-of-it working mom into a flurry, but with these simple tips, you should be able to weather the storm. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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