The Dilemma
I'm waiting for the phone to ring. It will be the school asking me to come pick up John because he threw up, or isn't feeling well, or is coughing too much. It is hard sometimes to decide whether or not to send a child to school. John threw up twice yesterday-- once in the morning and once in the evening. Most of the morning he wasn't acting particularly sick, but in the afternoon and evening he stayed lying down, and was obviously less energetic than normal. He went to bed early, and I was thinking I would have him at home another day. This morning he was coughing, and his nose was running, and he still didn't look like he was 100% better. I took his temperature and it was 99.4 F. But he didn't feel nausious any more, he ate some breakfast, and he wanted to go back to school. His temperature wasn't all that high, so I'm left with the dilemma: do I let him go to school, knowing I may have to go pick him up in a half hour or an hour? Or do I keep him home, where he may not act sick at all, and he will be bored all day?
How do I balance my desire not to expose others to illness with my desire to teach the importance of education to my children, and the concept that you shouldn't miss school unless you have to? I know there are parents who will take their kids out of school for a day or a week for vacations, trips to amusement parks and the like, but I've always tried to teach my children the importance of school, that it is not something to skip lightly. The school has given out rewards in the past for perfect attendance, and my children are happy when they get them. My children like school, and I'm glad that they do. I don't want them to get the idea that they can skip school every time that they are feeling slightly "under the weather". But when they really are sick, they do need to stay home. My difficulty is in finding the line. At what point do I say they are healthy enough to go to school, or so sick that they need to stay home? Is it when their temperature passes a certain point? Is it measured in a certain number of coughs per hour? Is it a certain number of hours since the last time they vomited? Is it how sick they feel, and whether or not they feel well enough to stay home? I remember my Mom asking me on mornings when I felt sick, if I felt sick enough to stay in bed all day. Is that the determining factor?
John felt well enough to go to school today. He has been there for about an hour now and the phone hasn't rung yet. Maybe it won't. Then again, it might.
How do I balance my desire not to expose others to illness with my desire to teach the importance of education to my children, and the concept that you shouldn't miss school unless you have to? I know there are parents who will take their kids out of school for a day or a week for vacations, trips to amusement parks and the like, but I've always tried to teach my children the importance of school, that it is not something to skip lightly. The school has given out rewards in the past for perfect attendance, and my children are happy when they get them. My children like school, and I'm glad that they do. I don't want them to get the idea that they can skip school every time that they are feeling slightly "under the weather". But when they really are sick, they do need to stay home. My difficulty is in finding the line. At what point do I say they are healthy enough to go to school, or so sick that they need to stay home? Is it when their temperature passes a certain point? Is it measured in a certain number of coughs per hour? Is it a certain number of hours since the last time they vomited? Is it how sick they feel, and whether or not they feel well enough to stay home? I remember my Mom asking me on mornings when I felt sick, if I felt sick enough to stay in bed all day. Is that the determining factor?
John felt well enough to go to school today. He has been there for about an hour now and the phone hasn't rung yet. Maybe it won't. Then again, it might.
Our school has a rule that you have to keep the child home for 24 hours after having a fever. Gabe was sick one day and had a fever and still had one when going to bed, but the next morning it was gone. But since it hadn't been 24 hours I had to keep him home when he was perfectly fine. Kind of silly if you ask me.
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