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my.unquiet.mind
StuckOnPeas
PeaNut 403,496
December 2008
Posts: 2,105
Layouts: 0
Loc: Illinois
 |  Posted: 12/6/2012 9:36:45 PM
When I was in high school, the administration came up with this brilliant plan to increase daily attendance. If a student earned a grade of an "A" they could miss 3 excused days of school and be granted the privilege of skipping out on their final exams in that particular class. If you had a "B" you could miss 2 days and still skip your final exam.
I'll be honest, that was a VERY effective method of motivating students (even sick ones) to drag our happy butts to school every day, come hell or high water. My senior year I had mono, but I seriously didn't miss a day of school because I wanted to be exempt from all my exams. The majority of the student population would have gone to school even if they had the plague! It was awful, and everyone was always sick---but hey, I only took 2 final exams throughout all 4 years of high school.
Now I'm a teacher and I get so angry when parents feed their kids a boatload of medicine and send them to school. It's not quite as bad at the junior high level, but it was very common when I taught preschool. One little girl was sick for weeks and her mom would just load her up on Tylenol and bring her in. As soon as the meds wore off, we'd call mom and tell her she needed to come pick her daughter up. Her mom would come get her and then bring her right back the next day. It was horrible! I can't even tell you how many hours I spent holding that little girl and trying to soothe her (which was impossible). Finally, after weeks of this crap, mom finally took her to the doctor. She had strep throat and had probably had it for who knows how long. I DID NOT like that mother.  |
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Juliettie
DesPEArate Housewife
PeaNut 99,184
August 2003
Posts: 7,122
Layouts: 16
Loc: Left Field.
 | Posted: 12/6/2012 9:53:36 PM
Drives me nuts, too.
I'm irritated right now because my 4yo DS has a gross cold. He honestly doesn't feel bad, but he's snotty, coughing and looks gross. He's in a cooperative preschool, which means I have to be a helper teacher every other week. Tomorrow is my day. I've filled in for FOUR people already this year when their kids or they were sick. Will anyone help me out? Nope. DH can't take off work, either...not for this. So, if something happens to the other helper tomorrow, the preschool shuts down for the day...not enough adult/kid ratio. Eighteen parents and no one will fill in....we're all SAHM (preschool is only 10 hours per week) so there's no freaking excuse.
Half tempted to just take him in sick, but I honestly don't want to infect other kids. Maybe the parents, though.... Ugh.
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Dave Barry on Christmas...
"In the old days, it was not called the Holiday Season; the Christians called it 'Christmas' and went to church; the Jews called it 'Hanukka' and went to synagogue; the atheists went to parties and drank. People passing each other on the street would say 'Merry Christmas!' or 'Happy Hanukka!' or (to the atheists) 'Look out for the wall!'" | |
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gryroagain
PeaAddict
PeaNut 463,630
April 2010
Posts: 1,360
Layouts: 0
 | Posted: 12/6/2012 9:55:43 PM
The worst, IMO, is sports and activities. Kids will be home from school puking, but by gosh, they are gymnastics that night. or at ballet, with a fever.
Keep your cruddy kids home!
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Sarah*H
Bring me that horizon!
PeaNut 239,162
December 2005
Posts: 27,894
Layouts: 413
Loc: The final frontier
 | Posted: 12/6/2012 10:00:55 PM
Maybe I'm uptight but the cold thing bothers me too. It's just a cold for your kid. Maybe it's pneumonia for the kid the kid they infected when they spread snot on the library book they turned in today (which I dutifully wiped off.) Maybe it 's something worse for the aide on chemo who is trying to get her hours in so she can keep her health insurance. I get it, I know the world is a germy place but maybe it's worse because so many people think their germs don't count. |
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Jenny Lilac
For Esme with Love and Squalor
PeaNut 45,964
August 2002
Posts: 11,621
Layouts: 276
Loc: Pioneer Valley, Massachusetts
 | Posted: 12/6/2012 10:59:28 PM
One of DD's friends had never been to the ocean before so we took her 2 hours + this summer so she could sit on the beach and swim in the water. It was very apparent after we arrived that she had a fever and soon she threw up. That was when I found out oh she wasn't feeling well in the middle of the night and mom had given her tylenol so she'd still be able to go. Arrrrr! |
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PEArfect
AncestralPea
PeaNut 452,048
January 2010
Posts: 4,466
Layouts: 0
Loc: Indiana
| Posted: 12/6/2012 11:00:13 PM
I volunteered to be a chaperone for my dd K field trip and one of the girls in my group had pink eye. Her mom didn't want her to miss out on the field trip.  She told me her mom said she could stay home from school the next day. The poor girl was miserable. She ended up wetting her pants too.
My dd (K) came home from school yesterday not feeling well. I made an appointment for her that afternoon because this was a relapse for her. She stayed home today and will stay home tomorrow too because she still has a mild fever.
I wish parents would keep their kids home from school when they are sick. Do I warn people that my kids are sick? Always! My dd's had plans to stay the night with their grandparents (inlaws) Saturday and I already called to let them know that my dd is sick. If she feels better and they want them to come over, great. That's their decision. I was going to take my dd's over to see my parents Saturday afternoon, but I wont know. My mom has ALS and I dont want to expose her to anything. I let them know too. |
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JessicaL
PeaAddict
PeaNut 110,314
October 2003
Posts: 1,605
Layouts: 44
Loc: Melbourne, Australia
| Posted: 12/7/2012 2:54:12 AM
Yep, I had the vent about my brother bringing his 3 sick kids to stay 5 days with us over Thanksgiving. Every. Single. Person in the house (10 of us in all) ended up getting sick. My mom is still sick (compromised immune system) and couldn't even give blood for an upcoming surgery she is having. We went to Disney the week after Thanksgiving and almost didn't go because the kids were still recovering.
STAY HOME SICKIES!!!
Isn't this just doing the same thing? Taking your sick kids where there are hundreds of other kids who could also get sick?
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MerryMom937
PeaFixture
PeaNut 472,567
June 2010
Posts: 3,076
Layouts: 0
 | Posted: 12/7/2012 9:18:42 AM
I agree that if a parent knows their child is ill, that they shouldn't be dragging them around (outside of getting over a cold). In fairness though, a child can be fine and then a couple of hours later, throw up.
I am 50 years old and I am of the generation that our moms used to have "chicken pox" parties. If a neighbor child was ill with chicken pox during the summer, the other moms would send kids around that "child with the chicken pox" so that you would get exposed to the chicken pox. That way, you didn't get chicken pox during the school year. | |
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