Do parents take off work for field trips?

[Anonymous]

Yes, you take off work for field trips.

Are you aware that pre-schools close for snow in the winter? Mine used to follow FCPS's closure schedule. You will be staying home with your child if you don't put him/her into a snow day camp.

[Anonymous]

Yes, parents take off time for work for field trips.

[Anonymous]

No, I don't. I have one school age child and one in daycare for whom I recently returned from a maternity leave that had to be covered using my saved PTO. I have just a couple days in the bank that I have to save for teacher development days and days the kids are sick. So field trips are a no-go for me at this point. But our school doesn't require a 1:1 ratio either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, you take off work for field trips.

Are you aware that pre-schools close for snow in the winter? Mine used to follow FCPS's closure schedule. You will be staying home with your child if you don't put him/her into a snow day camp.

I'm aware. The Pre-k may be canceled, but daycare may be open. Last year we did have to take 3 days off during the blizzard because the roads weren't plowed.

Now I can see the teacher probably thinks I'm some sort of bitch for looking surprised about missing work for a field trip. It's my first kid. So shoot me. I work in the medical field, which is 24/7, 365. I'm working Christmas this year. You can call me a bad parent or whatever you want. I am just used to work interfering with everything. I didn't know parents took off for reasons other than illness.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, you take off work for field trips.

Are you aware that pre-schools close for snow in the winter? Mine used to follow FCPS's closure schedule. You will be staying home with your child if you don't put him/her into a snow day camp.

I'm aware. The Pre-k may be canceled, but daycare may be open. Last year we did have to take 3 days off during the blizzard because the roads weren't plowed.

Now I can see the teacher probably thinks I'm some sort of bitch for looking surprised about missing work for a field trip. It's my first kid. So shoot me. I work in the medical field, which is 24/7, 365. I'm working Christmas this year. You can call me a bad parent or whatever you want. I am just used to work interfering with everything. I didn't know parents took off for reasons other than illness.

No need to be shot. Every working parent has to make these choices (if they even have the option). Parents take off for things other than illness or vacation. My mom took a day off here and there and pulled me out of preschool or school (elementary and middle) and we would go on an adventure day. She had a demanding job and usually wasn't home until right before dinner time most days.

[Anonymous]

Our preschool didn't do field trips. Our K did field trips, and they did ask for a certain number of parent volunteers so that each adult was in charge of 2 kids, one per hand.

I have taken off work a few times for field trips or other volunteer opportunities with the school. I can't do it during my busy season at work, and my daughter mostly accepts that, but it can be kind of fun to do it. I have 5 weeks of vacation and rarely take more than 3 weeks of it, so I don't mind using some of it for school stuff.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, you take off work for field trips.

Are you aware that pre-schools close for snow in the winter? Mine used to follow FCPS's closure schedule. You will be staying home with your child if you don't put him/her into a snow day camp.

I'm aware. The Pre-k may be canceled, but daycare may be open. Last year we did have to take 3 days off during the blizzard because the roads weren't plowed.

Now I can see the teacher probably thinks I'm some sort of bitch for looking surprised about missing work for a field trip. It's my first kid. So shoot me. I work in the medical field, which is 24/7, 365. I'm working Christmas this year. You can call me a bad parent or whatever you want. I am just used to work interfering with everything. I didn't know parents took off for reasons other than illness.

My DH is a surgeon and he has taken a day off to go on field trips. He needs advance notice though. He was on call on Christmas last year. No big deal. He can take as much time off as he wants as long as it is scheduled in advance. DH has never been the one to stay home for when a child gets home for a 101 fever. I always took the sick day hits.

[Anonymous]

PP again. I don't know any physicians who think their job is 24-7 365 days per year. Our family takes lots of family vacations and DH values his home time.

[Anonymous]

I'd be annoyed if daycare expected a 1:1 ratio for a field trip. We didn't have that during the daycare years.

But sure, I have to take time off for parent-teacher conferences, school meetings (kid has IEP), field trips, school assemblies.

Thankfully, as kid has gotten older, the illnesses are almost nill now. Built up some good antibodies during the daycare years!

[Anonymous]

Now I can see the teacher probably thinks I'm some sort of bitch for looking surprised about missing work for a field trip. It's my first kid. So shoot me. I work in the medical field, which is 24/7, 365. I'm working Christmas this year. You can call me a bad parent or whatever you want. I am just used to work interfering with everything. I didn't know parents took off for reasons other than illness.

I understand that you didn't know and am not trying to attack you. But yes, this is what parents have to do and it only gets worse as kids get older. I understand it is tough, and I also have a demanding job, so I can't take off for every single field trip, but I take off for some of them when I can because it means a lot to my kids. You're going to have to find some middle ground on this issue.

[Anonymous]

Our pre-school does not do 1:1. Each class has 8-10 children per teacher (2 teachers for 17 in our PK class and 2 teachers for 20 in the other PK class). When classes go on field trips, the school rents buses, the 2 teachers go and they ask for 3-4 volunteers chaperones to assist the teachers. The chaperones ride the bus with the children and teachers. Any other parent is invited to join, but they will need to drive separately and meet the class at the field trip location. We have one scheduled for next week and we will not be going. We have another one next month and I will be going on that one.

[Anonymous]

It's a little odd to expect a 1:1 ratio for a field trip at a daycare.

At my kid's daycare, occasionally a few parent volunteers were requested. Some parents went and some didn't.

For school, a few volunteers are requested each trip. I've been able to take off for a couple of them but not all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No, I don't. I have one school age child and one in daycare for whom I recently returned from a maternity leave that had to be covered using my saved PTO. I have just a couple days in the bank that I have to save for teacher development days and days the kids are sick. So field trips are a no-go for me at this point. But our school doesn't require a 1:1 ratio either.

Do you have a husband?

[Anonymous]

Yep, we take off. Try to do this one since the pumpkin patch is fun and then you won't have to do it on a weekend! But it's okay to miss some.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP again. I don't know any physicians who think their job is 24-7 365 days per year. Our family takes lots of family vacations and DH values his home time.

Well I didn't mean I'm working 365 days a year. But somebody is always taking care of the patients. I work in a small company, so a call-in or rearranging the schedule does inconvenience someone or pile extra work onto a coworker's day. It doesn't mean that work is more important than my kids, I just also feel an obligation not to inconvenience my coworkers, and to be a dependable employee. If your surgeon husband isn't the one who calls off work for a 101 temp, is it because he is the higher earner, he feels more of an obligation to his patients than his kids, or does not want to inconvenience another surgeon who would no doubt have to take his place?