Wintry blast sparks a day-care 911
In a school-closing pinch, firms offer parents emergency backup
The bitter cold still clinging to their ski coats, Louise Stappen and her 10-year-old twin girls whisked into Goodwin Procter's emergency day-care center yesterday after having hamburgers for lunch. She dropped them off and returned to her job as a secretary at the Boston law firm.
"If it wasn't for them," Stappen said, glancing at a day-care worker, "I wouldn't be at work today."
Nor would have Ellen Guerriero. Her children, Kevin, 11, and Katie, 8, spent yesterday at the center, too, playing computer games, fashioning beaded designs on small trays, and watching videos with a dozen other children.
"It's convenient, and I don't have to pay for it," said Guerriero, a part-time legal secretary.
Most working parents were scrambling yesterday to find child care after having learned Thursday evening that an Arctic blast hovering over the Northeast would cause school closings statewide. One nursery school teacher was forced to bring her children to her classroom because their schools were closed, and many parents stayed home to mind their kids. But a lucky few took advantage of backup day care, an increasingly popular, low-cost option provided by some of the city's large employers, including Fidelity Investments, Putnam Investments, the law firms Foley Hoag and Nutter McClennen & Fish, and Children's Hospital Boston.
Backup day care represents an acknowledgement by employers of the logistical difficulties faced by single parents or two-earner couples who have to juggle school snow days, parent-teacher conferences, and sick baby sitters. By helping their employees, the companies can prevent critical staff from taking last-minute vacation or sick days to stay home with their children.
"Employers can see that, for less of an investment in space than a full-time day-care center, they can do something that shows a return on investment," said Ilene Hoffer, spokeswoman for Bright Horizons Family Solutions. The firm has opened 23 of its 37 US backup centers since 2000.
"Whether it's a nanny or a spouse or a day-care center, everybody has a need for backup care at some point," she said.
With nearly 350 school districts and private schools closed yesterday in Massachusetts, parents needed backup for their backup.
Many were turned away by Massachusetts General Hospital's emergency, on-site day-care center, including Dr. Robert Gerszten, a hospital cardiologist, and his wife, Elena Olson, administrative director of the diversity office. The center, which was short one worker, was booked to capacity with 15 children, said a hospital spokeswoman.
At 9 a.m., Olson, who usually doesn't work Fridays, had a must-attend presentation before hospital trustees. The couple tried to reach the emergency day-care center Thursday night, but learned Friday morning that they were on their own. Gerszten had to postpone his 9 a.m. meeting until 10:30, so his wife could get to her meeting.
As Olson sat in the meeting, the minutes flew by. She knew her husband was parked outside, waiting to hand off Alex, 7, and Nicholas, 5.
"I was thinking, `It's 10:15. I have to leave,' " Olson recounted. "There was no way I could do it gracefully. I gave myself a limit -- 10:30. I just took off and ran down a flight of stairs. I ran faster than I ever ran in my life." The kids spent the day playing with her copy machine and making paper airplanes, one of which hit Olson's coworker in the eye, she said.
Schools closed because officials were concerned that children walking or waiting for buses would be vulnerable to frostbite. Most parents are prepared for a few snow days every winter, but few anticipate school closings for subzero temperatures. Many said they did not learn about the closings until late Thursday, when they received calls from concerned grandparents or heard the news from the people who watch their children after school.
Susanna Cerulli was taking calls until 10 p.m. Thursday from panicky parents seeking backup child care in their home from Parents in a Pinch, a nanny service. "They just found out the school was closed," she said.
Last-minute child care can be expensive. The Brookline firm charges employers about $65 to refer an emergency nanny for one 10-hour day. The employee then pays the nanny $100. Professionals whose companies have contracts with Parents in a Pinch may receive a subsidy from their employer; Children's Hospital, for example, reimburses employees $50.
"It's definitely worth it to an employee who has important meetings or obligations at work," said Laureen Evans, backup care coordinator for Parents in a Pinch.
Kimberly Blanton can be reached at
