"The girl demands attention": teleworking with the children at home due to the storm Adam

Palma"Yesterday evening they notified us and we had to reorganize everything in a matter of minutes". Marta Torres, mother of two children aged 4 and 8 and a resident of Vila, started this Monday with an added headache: combining work with childcare after the suspension of classes in the Pityusic Islands due to storm Adam. Like her, many families have had to improvise alternatives to face a day without school. The decision to suspend school activity in Mallorca, Ibiza, and Formentera to prevent risks from intense rainfall has forced parents to seek solutions overnight, between schedule changes, teleworking, and family help. In many cases, the notice arrived when families already had their work week organized and did not have much room to modify their plans.

In Torres' case, the solution has been to turn to the grandparents. "I work at a shop and I cannot stay at home. My husband works in the catering sector and he couldn't change his shift either, so in the end the children have stayed with the grandparents," she explains. The grandparents live in the same municipality and have been able to take care of the children during the day. The mother acknowledges that, without this help, the situation would have been much more complicated. "We have to organize ourselves however we can. When there are school holidays you already have it planned, but when they suspend classes from one day to the next it is different. Not everyone can ask for time off or leave work," she points out. Despite understanding the need to take preventive measures in the face of the storm, she considers that these situations put families' ability to reconcile work and life to the test.

A different situation is that of Laura Ribas, a resident of Palma and mother of a 4-year-old girl. Both she and her partner have office jobs, but only he can work remotely. This Monday, the girl stayed at home with her father while the mother went to her workplace. "In theory, he can work from home, but that does not mean he can be at the computer for eight hours without interruptions. The girl demands attention, wants to play and asks for things constantly," says Ribas. To balance both activities, the family prepared activities so that the little one would be entertained during work hours.

The mother admits that teleworking has made the situation easier for them, although it has not completely solved the problem. "It is a privilege to be able to do so, because there are many people who do not have this option. But it is also true that, if you have a meeting or have to finish a task, it is difficult to concentrate with a child at home," she adds. The family hopes that the weather situation improves soon and that daily activity can resume normally.

For other families, however, the only alternative has been to negotiate with the company. Neus, mother of a 3-year-old child and worker at an industrial company in Mallorca, explains that she had to contact her colleagues to try to find a solution that would allow her to stay with her son. "I couldn't miss work without notice and I didn't have anyone who could help me either. In the end, a colleague swapped shifts with me and that way I was able to stay with the boy," she recounts. Neus assures that the situation has been stressful, especially because the decision was communicated with little time to reorganize. "I understand that, if there is a risk, classes must be suspended. Safety comes first. But, when something like this happens, you also have to think about what you do with the children if you have to go to work," she states. In her case, the possibility of swapping shifts allowed her to resolve the day, but she recognizes that it is not always possible to find a colleague willing to make the change.

Another reality is that of Miquel, a worker at a Majorcan electricity and construction materials company. "My company let me telework, last night they sent a message to everyone, which gave and recommended this option. This saved me from taking the children to their grandparents' house, since I had them today and had no other option if I had to go to work. The mother is on call and was working, therefore I had no other options. Over the years, companies are understanding that reconciling is also this, being able to stay at home when some unforeseen event turns our agenda upside down," he explains.

Without a network

The situation also affects families who do not have a nearby support network. This is the case for Clara, mother of a 3-year-old child and resident of Manacor. Her parents live off the island and her partner works outside the home for a good part of the day. "When there is no school, you have to start calling and seeing who can help you. If you have grandparents nearby, you have an alternative, but if not, everything is much more complicated," she explains.

Clara has been able to reorganize her day to stay with her son, but this has meant postponing some work tasks. "Today I will do what I can from home. There are jobs that can wait a few hours, but there are others that cannot. In the end, you end up making up for what you couldn't do during the day at night," she says. The mother believes that families should have more options for work flexibility in the face of exceptional situations like this one. While some families can resort to teleworking, others depend on the help of grandparents or need to negotiate schedule changes. The possibility of making the workday flexible, having family members nearby, and having a support network ends up determining, in large part, how a day without school is handled.