Snow Days and Sick Days

I am kind of at a loss as to what I should do when either of these occur. I live in Michigan, so a snow day will happen at some point. Also, illness is already going around in my son's school.Both my husband and I work for the same healthcare company. It's a huge company, so we don't even see each other. Anyway, the thing that really sucks about it is they are not family friendly at all. Kind of strange considering it's a Catholic organization that preaches about how important people are over profits, but I digress.We earn PTO (paid time off) each pay period. You can use it for sick time, but here's the catch, there is also a point system. Each "occurrence" delegated a point or half a point depending on what it was. Calling in sick is 1 point. You are allowed 13 a year before you're fired.That may sound like a lot of points, but things happen. You get half a point if you're late, even if it's not your fault (like a car accident on the way to work made you late). Now, if you call in sick, it's a point per illness. So let's say you have the flu and need to call in 3 days in a row, that's 1 point (if you have a doctor's note). If your child has the flu, though, and you call in 3 days in a row, that's 3 points. It doesn't matter if there is a doctor's note or not.While yes, we are "allowed" to use the PTO for sick days, you will be shamed for it. You will be shamed for using PTO for a snow day. I was once told, "Well, just because school is closed it doesn't mean work is." I get it, but at the same time, it's my PTO. If I can't find someone to watch my son, I have to stay home, he's only 6.We don't have much in the way of "backups". I am being told over and over, "You need backups for sick kids and snow days," but it's easier said than done. Nobody wants to watch your sick kid. I don't blame them. Plus, a sick 6-year-old wants mommy or daddy to take care of them. Snow days are tricky because our families live about 25 miles north of us. When we get a snow day, their weather is worse, guaranteed. They live right on Lake Michigan. Their portion of the highway is almost always shut down on bad weather days.Is this normal for a company to be so unforgiving when it comes to sick/snow days, or do my husband and I work for Ebineezer Scrooge? What kind of backup plans do you have in place for snow days/sick days? I can't find any daycares in my area that would let my son come on a per diem basis. I've looked into hiring a sitter, but it's so expensive!My son doesn't get sick often (knock on wood), and hopefully there won't be too many snow days this year. Should my husband and I just take turns using PTO and taking the point if we have to? We did that last year, but his former employer was much more understanding, so it wasn't a big issue. via /r/Parenting https://ift.tt/2QKconr