A plan for a bad day

The sheet

Made together in a good week: who to call, who does the school run, what we say on a hard day, and one rule for an emergency.

To fill in together · A4 · One page · PDF, 47 KB

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It goes with When You Are Not All Right.

How it helps

When a parent is unwell or struggling, children notice, and they worry most about what will happen. A plan made in a good week tells them, so nobody has to guess on a hard day, and it names the adults who will help, so looking after you never becomes their job.

How to use it

1. Fill it in during a good week, with the children and any other adult who is part of the plan.
2. Write in the adults they can call and who does the school run, and agree the words you’ll use on a hard day, so nobody has to guess what they mean.
3. Go through the emergency rule together. It is only about fetching help, and it is the one part of the plan that asks anything of them.
4. Keep it where everyone can find it, and look at it again on the date you wrote. If you are not safe, or not sure you can keep yourself or someone else safe, don’t wait for the plan: use the routes at theparentbook.com/urgent-help straight away.

How to print it

Print it at home on A4, at actual size (100%) in the print settings. It reads as well in black and white as in colour.