Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Keep at Home or Send to School?


       If you think about it, a person makes decisions from the time you wake until you lay down to sleep at night.  Today the powers that be at NaBloPoMo are interested in any decision making I have made recently.


        Last night my daughter came home with a severe sore throat, swollen glands, and a temperature soaring to 102 degrees.  This morning when she only felt a tad better I made the executive decision to keep her home from school.  Sometimes you have to do that when you are a parent.  You have to make the decision about how sick your child is and whether they would be better served having a day home resting with medication administered every 4 hours like clockwork. 




       
    
       At the beginning of the school year the nurse at my son’s school sent home guidelines about when you should keep your child home from school.  I posted it on the refrigerator and have referred to it often since.  I wish I had this list all along because then the decision making would have been a lot easier.  I feel compelled to share this great advice here. 


         If the thermometer reads over 100 degrees Fahrenheit, you must keep your kid home from school.  The schools my children attend ask that kids be fever free for at least 24 hours without the use of fever reducing medication before returning to school.  Next if your kid has nausea or is vomiting then they should stay home.  If they are suffering from a sore throat accompanied by fever, they should also stay home.  Finally if your child has had 3 or more episodes of diarrhea in the last 24 hours, or any symptoms that would prevent them from participating in class like excessive tiredness, loss of appetite, severe headaches, body aches, earache, or sore throat you can plan on playing nurse maid at home.  If your kid had strep throat or pink eye, they have to be on antibiotics for at least 24 hours before returning to school.


         Thanks to this thoughtful school nurse’s guidelines, I have no problem figuring out whether my children are well enough to send to school or sick enough to stay home.  All I can hope is that the time at home helped steer my daughter towards the road to recovery and she feels better tomorrow.  I am the mommy who would have given anything to have a parenting owner's manual with each baby when they were born.  It would have made life a lot easier and calmed my worries over the years. The guidelines take the guesswork out and help me to feel even more confident in my ability to make the decision that is best until next time when I give you another glimpse into the life of a trucker’s wife.

18 comments:

  1. Hope the lil' girl feels better soon. I -hated- when I got sick and had to stay home from school because when you'd go back the next day, sure enough homework was to the ceiling!

    Remy / Cinnamon Bubbles

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    1. Remy, me too. She has got rid of the fever but the sore throat is still lingering. She says she feels better and will be going to school tomorrow. She may luck out because the teacher she has this year isn't big on homework. My daughter usually gets it done on the bus on the way home or shortly after she arrives. Thank you for stopping in to read and comment!

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  2. Aw.. I hope she feels better soon.. Being sick is no fun, not for the lit'l ones and not for mom..
    Great guidelines. I followed the same ones myself. I always thought it was so inconsiderate of parents to send their kid to school sick because they couldn't or wouldn't take a day off of work and I get that. I was a single mom of 4 for many years, staying home from work when every penny counts is a huge decision but in the big picture, your child is sick and he/she needs you - not a daycare worker - and in consideration of all of the other kids and teachers that may get sick, it's best to keep your child home.

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    1. Magical Mystical Mimi, I have been a stay at home mommy from day one, but if they are really sick they stay home. The schools are so germ infested. I hate it. If one kid gets it, then I will get it, and then the other one will get it. UGH!! I agree with you too that if a kid is sick he or she needs their mommy not some daycare worker. Thank you for stopping in to read and for your comments!

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  3. I just recently had something like this happen with my son. I won't go into details but my poor lil man cried right there in the nurse's office he was so upset he couldn't stay at school. The schools here aren't the same as they are there, apparantly. But I do have a wonderful pediatrician who gave me great guidleines of when to send them and when not to.

    Hope your lil one feels better soon :)

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    1. Beautiful Disaster, awww the poor guy!! My son has cried because he didn't want to stay home sick before even when his temp was 104 degrees. He still wanted to go to school. I had to put my foot down. Then it wasn't long before the dawning hit that he got mommy all to himself then he was cool with staying home and resting. :D Thanks for stopping in to read and for your comments!

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  4. Yeah, I wish I'd had directions as detailed as the nurses,for making some of my decisions! Hope your little one feels better soon!

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    1. Holly, I wish the school had sent those instructions home when my oldest went to kindergarten. I could have used the guidance clear back then when I was completely clueless and more or less parenting blind. LOL It makes me feel so wise now! LOL Thanks for stopping by to read and comment. She is feeling a little better and the fever is gone, so she will be back in school tomorrow.

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  5. Hope your child feels better! I know it is hard to take a day off to care for them, but as a teacher, I can say it is appreciated.

    It is hard to take days off as a teacher with the annoyance of creating sub plans (if you are trying to continue the lesson or make sure students don't just do busy work).

    But if it is any of the things on your handy list, I definitely take a day off.

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    1. a.eye, she feels better today so I sent her off to school this morning. The kids are required to do at home reading and she almost finished her book yesterday while home. Thank you for stopping by and for your comments!!

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  6. i don't have any guidelines to follow, but.... i let the kids stay home once or twice a year just because.. they felt overwhelmed, with everything. they simply needed a break. it allowed them to replenish,and focus better.

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    1. Danneromero, I have given my kids a reprieve at times too. It is good for everyone to have a reprieve every now and then. It does help to make them more willing to get back at it the next day. Thank you for stopping by to read and for your comments!

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    2. Good idea. Like a personal day that adults sometimes get from their work.

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    3. a. eye, exactly and well paralleled!! Thanks for stopping by to add your 2 cents! :D

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  7. I love these guidelines! As a teacher, it was always so tough to nurture a sick child instead of teaching. Before you knew it half the class was sick and so was I!

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    1. Karen, I always felt that if I felt sick I would have rather been at home. I can imagine it would be hard to keep sick kids focused on their work. Not only that the germs get passed around to everyone and the cycle never ends. Schools are such big germ pools anyways. Thank you for stopping by to read and for your kind comments!

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  8. yup. follow same guidelines aways. especially as my son as asthma and everything winds up in his chest. He's now had pneumonia 3 times in the past 2 years.

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    1. Sandra, that must be extremely hard keeping him well with the asthma complication. My sister suffered with asthma when she was little. It went away for a while and then when she got a lot older it returned. I feel some what guilty when they miss school, but if the kids are sick...they are sick. Thank you for stopping in to read and for your kind comments.

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