quick-fingersTake Your Kid to School Sick Day
Parenting Smarts
I Never Heard of ‘Take Your Kid to School Sick’ Day
So I’m at my son’s preschool and one of the moms is hovering at the door, talking about “wrapping up in three pairs of pj’s,” "waking up in the middle of the night and sneaking in our bed, blah, blah, blah…”
Then I hear: “…a fever this morning…”
-HUH?
A little more: “but she’s acting fine so I brought her to school…”
-Double HUH?
And finally, a surprised: “Oh, you think I should take her home? Ummhh…okay…sure…but, like I said it was a low fever and she slept just fine from 3 AM on.”
Thank goodness the preschool teacher couldn’t get the sick child out of her chair fast enough. I’m standing there, probably with my mouth wide open, looking at the now empty seat wondering how many germs are silently waiting to jump on my child two feet away. And what about the chunk of half-kneaded Playdough the little girl had been rolling around? Will the teacher throw it away? Please throw it away. Please throw it away...
As the mom quietly slips her daughter’s coat back on and slides out the back door, I’m still standing here in shock. I feel like shouting out: "LYSOL? Anybody! LYSOL?"
Can you Lysol Playdough, anyway?
I’m wondering how rude it would be if I were to start spraying down the seat or at least quarantine it for the next three hours.
Okay, maybe I’m overreacting. On the other hand, I’m probably not. It’s flu season after all, and the news coverage on H1N1 is more popular than Brittney Spears (What’s that? She’s not popular anymore? Well, I’m sure I made my point). Not to mention, I’ve got three kids, a husband that sleeps in hotel beds, just as often as he sleeps in our bed (for, all you curious readers at there that just can’t help yourself—he travels for work), and me in charge on the home front. If one child gets sick it’s all downhill from there. And, if I get sick?...shudder…Let’s not even think about it.
Granted, I don’t expect parents to take their kids out of school or daycare for sniffles, a sneeze or waking up with a slight headache, but come on—if your kid has green snot (well, snot, period), a cough that sounds like an exploding lung, or a “no-doubt about it my kid is obviously sick because she has a fever to prove it” don’t send her to school. PLEASE!
And if you do? Take the Playdough home with you.
freedigitalphotos.net provided the photos
