Yesterday afternoon I get a phone call from the school nurse. *cringe* Mary had been down to the nurse's office twice already. She had a runny nose, her ear was plugged, she hadn't eaten much lunch (um, my eats-like-a-bird kid NEVER eats her whole lunch, but I s'pose the nurse wouldn't know that), and she "just wasn't acting herself." No fever. No vomit. No red eyes. The nurse suggested I try to talk to her--to maybe "pep" her up into going back to class. HA! Not MY drama queen of a daughter!!
Well, I gave it the ol' college try. "No, Mommy, I just don't feel good." Fine. So then John and I are going back and forth on the phone trying to arrange who can pick up what kids when. Finally it's decided that I have to leave work to get Mary (and due to the nature of my job, I couldn't leave until after 2:00) and then he has to get the other two by 4:30 (how convenient that the one day care provider had to close early yesterday! @#$%).
To give the nurse some credit, Mary does indeed have a cold. A *slight* cold. She'd been sniveling the night before and even had a tiny cough (which we knew was from the post-nasal drip of said sniveling). BUT I knew as soon as I stepped in--when I saw Mary chillin' out on the sick bed playing with her virtual pet--that there was nothing wrong with that kid. Even the nurse says to me, "I just think she's coming down with a cold...." Really? And John and I had to wreck our work day (and I had to take time UNPAID) for what--a COLD?!
As soon as we get on the road, Mary starts, "Mom, can we play on the gamecube?" "NO." "Can we watch a movie?" "NO." "Well, what are we going to do?" "YOU are going to lie down on the couch." "Why?" "Because you're sick...right?"
Later she couldn't understand why she couldn't go to t-ball practice. Sorry: if you're sick at school, you can't go to t-ball at night.
Mary was pretty bored with her afternoon off from school. And pretty annoyed with me. Sorry. It's time to draw the line, kid. I explained to her last night that I knew that she didn't feel well--I know colds suck--but I'm NOT picking her up from school tomorrow unless she has a fever. Time to tough it out, kid. And I very nicely explained the same to her teacher via email: Mary may be tired today, but she just has a little cold, and I won't pick her up unless she has a fever. I hope I'm not being marked down as one of those "mean" parents now. *sigh* I guess my true nature was bound to come out sooner or later....
2 comments:
I really like the "If you're too sick for school, you're too sick for fun" method. (And of course I immediately do a 180 if it turns out the child is genuinely sick: children with high fevers and/or vomiting get movies, books read to them, etc.)
The nurse should start prescribing placebo.
"okay, swallow this, it's not only going to make your stomach feel better, but it'll make you...umm... more POPULAR, too! And if it lasts until bedtime, you'll be able to hear your stuffed animals talk."
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