Too Sick for School?

They tried to scare us at Parents’ Night. Don’t even THINK about sending your child to school sick this year, they warned us, what with swine flu and bird flu and all the other imminent pandemics. They even passed out a handy bulleted list of symptoms that warrant keeping a child home: fever, diarrhea, a “fresh” cold (whatever that is). Basically, the message was: when in doubt, keep your kid home.

Well, sure. In theory, wouldn’t any responsible parent keep a sick child home? But in reality, where I live, kids are sick all the damn time! If it’s not the sniffles it’s a cough or some random rash. Seriously, no matter how healthy your kid is, once they start school or daycare, it’s all over. Better kiss your personal days good-bye because you will be staying home with your little germ-magnet more than you can even imagine.

So you can hardly blame a parent for being a little lenient with the illness policy. It’s just allergies – send him to school! Sure, her mucus is clear … ish. Send her to school! That’s not a rash, it’s bug bites. Send ’em to school!

Look, I’d like to avoid swine flu as much as anyone, but if I kept my child home every time he exhibited any symptom whatsoever, he would never see the inside of his classroom. All that tuition money would be down the drain, and I would lose my ever-lovin’ mind from keeping him home all the time.

Because when you have a sick kid and no back-up, you’re stuck. You’re the one who clears your schedule, takes them to the doctor, runs to the pharmacy and spends day after day making soup and loading Disney movies into the DVD player. You can’t take them to the gym, the library, or even Target without getting dirty looks from every stranger who hears the kid cough. And let me tell you, that gets a little old by the time February rolls around.

So if my kid is oozing green snot and hacking up a lung, yes, I will keep him home. But otherwise, he’s going to school.

Abigail Green is a freelance writer, blogger, and writing instructor in Maryland. Her work has appeared in numerous publications including “A Cup of Comfort for New Mothers,”  American Baby, Bride’s, and Health magazine, as well as online at AOL.com and TheBump.com. She is a columnist for “The Writer Mama” and “Writers on the Rise”  e-zines, and teaches online writing courses. A mother of two boys, she blogs about parenting, publishing and more at http://diaryofanewmom.blogspot.com.