MultipleMum blogs about frugality, green living, parenting, and other musings at And then there were four (pilesofwashing.blogspot.com). She has four children, aged 6 and younger, including a set of boy/girl twins (Dew Drop and The Minx), and works outside of the home 3 days a week. There is never a dull moment in her busy and contented life.
Don't get me wrong. I get how hard it is to be a working Mum. I struggle into the office three times a week.
My kids trip the light fantastic with their long day care teachers.
We juggle the drop offs and pick ups and the crazy scheduling.
We deal with the tantrums that result from looooong days out of the house. And dinner at 6.30pm. And the hurried race to the bath. And the rush through the stories and homework and everything else that needs doing before we can tuck our precious bundles into bed.
And it is because of this that I am so annoyed. I am pissed with parents who only think of their own needs. I am referring to parents who send their children to daycare when they are sick.
I am not talking about a cold (would any of us get out of the house in winter?), I am talking about fevers. Chesty coughs. Conjunctivitis. Hand, foot and mouth and the plethora of other viruses my kids have contracted from going to daycare.
If your child is sick, keep them home. It is as simple as that.
I know it sucks being unreliable at work. I know how hard it is to shuffle meetings and appointments and priorities. I know what it is like to be on a deadline and not be able to meet it. It is embarrassing and frustrating. I know. I have to have days off to attend to my sick children.
But I can't help but think that if more parents put their children's needs ahead of their own and kept their kids at home when they are sick, that fewer others would be impacted. If parents followed the rules.
It is not good enough to say "They had a vomit this morning but they seem fine now". Sorry parent. Leave it 24 hours. It is not good enough to mask the effect of a fever by dosing your child with paracetamol. They could be infectious. Please leave them at home for 24 hours.
The Minx and Dew Drop have been seriously ill for the past two weeks with a virus that I suspect they got from daycare. To the person who thought it was a good idea to 'share the love', I want to throttle you. If only you knew the pain you have caused. If only.
Please keep your germs to yourself.
Is your daycare strict on infection control? What are your thoughts on people who don't play by the rules?
4 comments:
I agree with your point. Parents who send their kids to school after dosing them with panadol are damn inconsiderate. I work with someone like this and I say to her tht she is selfish, becos childcare will alwys ring and ask her to come and take her child home.
You are so right. Our daycare is pretty strict, but many parents seem to work hars at masking symptoms with medication. What's that all about? They are probably the same people who dose themselves up and punch through at work, spreading their germs to all and sundry. No one is that important! x
When kids get sick they are often sick for a week then pass it to another sibling. I would not have a job if I took 2 weeks off work each time a virus or infection struck our household. Needless to say I do not condone sending kids to school / care when they are unwell. Most of the time the illness they suffer has been contracted from someone at school / care whose parent was too selfish to keep them at home even if they were not working. By being exposed to the germs they build resistance and will sail through their upper school years without much time off.(Hopefully) I have worked in an office where sick children have slept behind their parents desks because the boss (also a father of a young child and also guilty of brining the child to the office due to a lack of home care)would not accept a sick child as a reason for a parent (or rather a female parent) being unable to attend work. Somehow there needs to be a move to make legitimate days due to illness accepted by employers. It is hard enough having sick kids without the pressure and guilt exerted by the boss!
As an early childhood teacher I can not agree with you more! It is very frustrating when children are generally sick and parents continue to bring them to care. Not only are the germs spread to the other children but also to the staff! As a working mother this means I have to take sick leave as well as then having to care for my own children who usually end up sick as well! Very frustrating!
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