Fed up with parents who send sick kids to school

[Anonymous]

I haven't waded through this thread but have a hard time believing all the supposed school admin/staff posting here about parents too often bringing sick kids.

What I hear is the opposite. Schools are very focused on attendance rates, increasingly so, and parents that keep kids out for whatever reason including mild illness are a real concern.

[Anonymous]

But about that flight...

[Anonymous]

Keeping a child home for a common cold for two weeks is crazy, Karen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Keeping a child home for a common cold for two weeks is crazy, Karen.

THE CHILD MUST REST AND RECOVER!

[Anonymous]

I find that there are two types of parents out there with regard to this issue. The first type sees through the lens of how the illness is an inconvenience to *them* and they are of the “the show must go on” mindset and act accordingly. The second type sees the illness as an inconvenience to the sick child and how it can also inconvenience others and acts accordingly.

When I meet someone new and am trying to figure them out, the sick kid situation is a good litmus test. Kind of like going to a restaurant on a first date and seeing how your date treats the service staff. It’s a pretty good indicator of how they treat others. Needless to say the first type of parent is not my cup of tea. And yes, I WOH full time, and it’s a huge inconvenience and takes a lot of work on my part to take off work but it’s my responsibility as a parent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know, all these people who don't have access to childcare or sick leave. Such jerks.

Get over yourself, OP, and be glad that's your biggest worry in life. I mean it. There are people who have a hell of a lot more to deal with.

Give me a break. Are people just not accountable for ANYTHING anymore. Your kids are sick, you keep them home. I am a pregnant teacher and will not tolerate any sick child in my class. They can sit in the nurses office all day if the parents don’t care to come get them. Most of them eventually do.

Don’t have kids if you can’t take care of them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know, all these people who don't have access to childcare or sick leave. Such jerks.

Get over yourself, OP, and be glad that's your biggest worry in life. I mean it. There are people who have a hell of a lot more to deal with.

Give me a break. Are people just not accountable for ANYTHING anymore. Your kids are sick, you keep them home. I am a pregnant teacher and will not tolerate any sick child in my class. They can sit in the nurses office all day if the parents don’t care to come get them. Most of them eventually do.

Don’t have kids if you can’t take care of them.

Don’t be so sanctimonious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everyone so quick to blame Karen and Becky.

You do realize that there are some parents who do not earn sick/vacation leave, and if they do not work, they do not get paid. And not getting paid that day or two might mean the difference in paying the rent or not, in buying medication for a family member or not, or putting meals on the table or not.

According to Mana Food Center (Montgomery County, https://www.mannafood.org/about/), there are 63,000 county residents who experience hunger and food insecurity. From the link: "Our county is one of the most affluent in the country, yet one in three public school students receives free and discounted school lunches..."

Even the schools with less than 5% FARMS have some students on FARMS. Not everyone lives the charmed life some of you seem to.

These are things that should be considered before choosing to bring a child into the world.

Yes aren’t you a practical poster. Children who are not the offspring of 1 percenters exist and most parents don’t send them to school when they’re sick so they can get their nails done. It’s because they have to go to work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everyone who works at a school learns quickly who the shitty parents are. After about the third time, no one believes you when you say your kid was fine this morning or that you didn’t give them any meds before you put them on the bus. And yes, the lice parents are the worst.

+1. We know and we despise you. We can tell when you’ve dosed your poor kid with Motrin at 7am to hide that fever. It inevitably spikes at about lunchtime. We try to call. Leave a voicemail. You finally call back 30 minutes before school ends apologizing. You were in a meeting and, of course had no idea your child was sick. We know who you are. And we think you are a shitty parent.

+2

Nailed it. The other moms know, too. Gets old quick - no matter what the age.

The very sad thing that I see among a law firm associate moms. They do have sick leave that they can take, but they still stay at work to meet their billable hours. Even those who met 2,000 hours, still staying at work to get an extra bonus while the child is sick in a daycare. It is very very sad dynamics in those families.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everyone who works at a school learns quickly who the shitty parents are. After about the third time, no one believes you when you say your kid was fine this morning or that you didn’t give them any meds before you put them on the bus. And yes, the lice parents are the worst.

+1. We know and we despise you. We can tell when you’ve dosed your poor kid with Motrin at 7am to hide that fever. It inevitably spikes at about lunchtime. We try to call. Leave a voicemail. You finally call back 30 minutes before school ends apologizing. You were in a meeting and, of course had no idea your child was sick. We know who you are. And we think you are a shitty parent.

+2

Nailed it. The other moms know, too. Gets old quick - no matter what the age.

The very sad thing that I see among a law firm associate moms. They do have sick leave that they can take, but they still stay at work to meet their billable hours. Even those who met 2,000 hours, still staying at work to get an extra bonus while the child is sick in a daycare. It is very very sad dynamics in those families.

Do you see similarly sad trends with law firm associate dads?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think I'm coming down with a cold. Trying to figure out if I should take my 8AM flight tomorrow...

Wear a mask

x100000

The worst is the parents who bought tickets to Disney, refuse to reschedule, and get the whole plane sick, plus the next plane full of people, with all the germs. So freaking selfish. Masks are 50 cents each. Buy them for you and your petri dish family -- and spare everyone else the unsuspected and unexpected grief of spending their only vacation in ten years, in bed. How gross can you be?

You only take a vacation once every 10 years? And you choose Disney all places?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know, all these people who don't have access to childcare or sick leave. Such jerks.

Get over yourself, OP, and be glad that's your biggest worry in life. I mean it. There are people who have a hell of a lot more to deal with.

Give me a break. Are people just not accountable for ANYTHING anymore. Your kids are sick, you keep them home. I am a pregnant teacher and will not tolerate any sick child in my class. They can sit in the nurses office all day if the parents don’t care to come get them. Most of them eventually do.

Don’t have kids if you can’t take care of them.

Except that as many have said, people can present as healthy in the early (contagious) stages of illness. There's a middle ground between dosing your sick kid and sending them and keeping a kid home for any sign of a sniffle. But in typical DCUM fashion, it's all or nothing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know, all these people who don't have access to childcare or sick leave. Such jerks.

Get over yourself, OP, and be glad that's your biggest worry in life. I mean it. There are people who have a hell of a lot more to deal with.

Give me a break. Are people just not accountable for ANYTHING anymore. Your kids are sick, you keep them home. I am a pregnant teacher and will not tolerate any sick child in my class. They can sit in the nurses office all day if the parents don’t care to come get them. Most of them eventually do.

Don’t have kids if you can’t take care of them.

I have had to deal with the sick kid in my office for 1/2 school day.

I'm the school nurse and also a mom.

And the principal was fully aware and did nothing to help with the situation. I hate being a very expensive babysitter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everyone so quick to blame Karen and Becky.

You do realize that there are some parents who do not earn sick/vacation leave, and if they do not work, they do not get paid. And not getting paid that day or two might mean the difference in paying the rent or not, in buying medication for a family member or not, or putting meals on the table or not.

According to Mana Food Center (Montgomery County, https://www.mannafood.org/about/), there are 63,000 county residents who experience hunger and food insecurity. From the link: "Our county is one of the most affluent in the country, yet one in three public school students receives free and discounted school lunches..."

Even the schools with less than 5% FARMS have some students on FARMS. Not everyone lives the charmed life some of you seem to.

These are things that should be considered before choosing to bring a child into the world.

So only wealthy people should.have children? Oh right, and women who are raped or victims of incest shouldn't have an abortion, so what exactly should they do? Give me a break!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I haven't waded through this thread but have a hard time believing all the supposed school admin/staff posting here about parents too often bringing sick kids.

What I hear is the opposite. Schools are very focused on attendance rates, increasingly so, and parents that keep kids out for whatever reason including mild illness are a real concern.

PP, who can't look away from this thread.

I completely agree with you. My son's ES is very pushy about absences. We got a frickin' letter from the DA! The DA! It basically said if your kid missed more than 6 days in 6 months, you might be referred to social services. The school also has ample signage emphasizing being there every day, on time, ready to learn.

So yeah, we're not staying out for colds. My 4th grader has some social/emotional issues and is prone to somatic behavior at times. He's been out twice this school year, both for specious reasons. Luckily, no strep or vomiting at all. He does sniff a lot. It's related to his behavioral issues, not a cold. Sorry Karen, he'll be in class today, as he's not sick.

I'm not from the DC area BTW. Don't know if you all get letters from the DA about this.