Q: How do you handle your job when your kids get sick?

Jackie de Crinis
Executive Vice President
Original Scripted Programming
USA Network
Kids: Madison, 14; Morgan, 11; Alexa, 4
A: When my caregiver is ill and I have a sick child at home, it’s a tricky situation. My first step: I furiously get to converting in-person meetings to conference calls or delaying them for a day. On occasion, if I need to make an important lunch meeting, I work from home in the morning and late afternoon and have my husband come home to cover midday. When children are under the weather, a lot of times they just want their mommy. But when Mommy needs to make phone calls and get on the computer, I reluctantly admit that television is the great substitute.

The guilt of being a working mother with a sick child was much greater when I was a new mom and my schedule was even more demanding. I used to have a longer commute, which made it impossible to come home in the middle of the day, and a longer schedule that included nights. In addition, I was the only working woman with children in my office. But over time and through much experience, it has become a little easier to juggle. Now all three of my children can communicate by phone. The guesswork of what’s hurting (and the subsequent guilt about that) is greatly diminished when they can articulate their ailments.

It has also helped that we’ve had the same pediatrician for almost 14 years. If one of my kids starts showing symptoms in the evening, I know to set my alarm clock extra early. This allows me to get the other two kids to school on time and still make our pediatrician’s early morning drop-in emergency hours. The trick is to get there first! Once we have a diagnosis, I race to the pharmacy to fill the prescriptions, get my child home and comfortable and translate the instructions into Spanish for our caregiver. Our caregivers over the years have always been Latin American, so I learned all the important health-related words first—fiebre (fever), tos (cough) and dolor de cabeza (headache).

Patricia Murray
SVP, Director, Human Resources
Intel Corporation
Kids: Kaitlyn, 14; Conor, 12
A: With my husband out of town most weeks, I run through the calendar with my trusted neighbor just in case one of us has to fill in for the other. And while most moms are comfortable having their kids cared for by trusted caregivers for run-of-the-mill colds and flus, there are circumstances where only a parent will do. “Trust your instincts and your kids” is my rule. Since neither of my children is sick very often, I try to respect their requests. Or, if there is a risk I’m not comfortable with, like an infection or an unusual medication, I will move mountains to be available to them.

I try very hard to integrate my kids into my work life so they know they don’t need to compete with work for my attention or have to feign sickness to get me to themselves.

I try to keep the guilt in check, too—about the kids and work. The biggest last-minute problems I’ve faced with my availability were due to transportation glitches, not my kids.

Life happens: traffic accidents, overbooked airlines, uncooperative weather. Children aren’t the only reason moms have to make adjustments to their work commitments. But for some reason, we seem to feel more guilt about them. Kids are part of our lives, too. There are times you will want to stay home and just care for yours or juggle your work from home. And for those times when work simply trumps all else, remember—generations of kids raised by working moms have survived under the care of others and still adore their moms.

Cindy Koch
Finance Director, Investor Relations
General Mills
Kids: Sophie, 4; Abbey, 21 months
A: I do what I can to keep my kids healthy, but life with a 21-month-old and a 4-year-old brings its share of colds, pinkeye and ear infections. Any plans in place at work change when one of my kids isn’t feeling well. Because they are young, they just want to be held when they’re sick. And I want to be the one holding them.

I am lucky to work at a company that is very supportive of families. As babies, both of my children were at work with me at General Mills’ on-site infant-care center. I could run downstairs and be with them right away if they needed me. From my first pregnancy through today, my managers have been flexible and have understood when I needed to work from home or leave during the day to pick up my child or take her to the doctor. This flexibility has never been a question, and I know I’m fortunate to be able to take it for granted.

Even though I have great flexibility, there are times when I need to get work done for a big meeting or an important deadline and must be physically in the office. At those times, it becomes a game of schedule management with my
husband, who is a true partner. When one of our kids gets sick, we compare calendars and figure out who can most afford to be home for the day or who has the more urgent meeting to attend. We trade off when we can. I stay home one day and he stays home the next. Or we might trade off during busy days so one of us is at work in the morning and the other in the afternoon.

Sometimes this works well, and other times it’s a major challenge. I remember one day in particular when we both had important meetings to lead. He stayed home in the morning so I could go in and prepare for mine. I came home for a few hours so he could run to his. Then I met him outside my office building, we switched cars, and he took the kids while I ran into my meeting with about two minutes to spare.

One of the biggest challenges on those days is to stay focused as I go back and forth from mom mode to work mode. It can be a little crazy, and definitely requires some creativity, but life with kids is never boring. And I am glad they’ll know that I was there when they were sick and just wanted their mom.