Do parents take off work for field trips?

[Anonymous]

OP, I am not from DC but what your kid's pre-K is doing sounds ridiculous. It also sounds like they don't typically cater to families with two professionally employed parents. Your question is not weird at all. Your commitment to your job is not selfish.

The people who are insulting you now, imagine how angry they would be if they found out their medical appointment was rescheduled or running late because their doctor was on a freakin' pumpkin patch field trip. Seriously.

[Anonymous]

Yes, i take off to chaperone field trips. I work in a ROWE and have a lotnof flexibility as a result.

[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.

Why can't your spouse attend?

[Anonymous]

I take time off and schedule myself around kids' activities all the time, and yes, I'm fairly important in my workplace as well. I'm not so important that they can't get by without me for a few hours here and there so I can be, you know, a parent to my kid. Get over yourself.

[Anonymous]

Yep. My child is 4 and her class is going to a local pumpkin playground in October. I've technically taken off 4 hours from work, but as we don't normally have set working hours I can easily make them up during that week.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My child is in Pre-k. I got a note that a field trip to a pumpkin patch is scheduled in October. An adult is expected to transport the child there and back to school, and be in attendance during the field trip (0900-1200). I asked the teacher if a parent was unable to attend, would the child stay at the school (which is a daycare that does before/after care for Pre-k). She said she has never had a child unable to attend, and that a grandparent or other adult could bring the child instead of the parent, or that I could just take off work the few hours during the trip (so I wouldn't be at work from 0830-1300).

Is this normal? Do parents use PTO for things other than sick days? I really don't imagine many parents willing to take a day off for a pumpkin patch trip, or that it would be normal to just go to work at 1300. I would love to go, and I don't want my child to miss the trip. I just think it's unreasonable to expect parents to take a day off work for something other than an illness or a vacation.

At my kids preschool, they had the same thing for the pumpkin patch. I had to transport my kid and stay. Took the morning off from work, NBD. If i couldn't, my DH would have. However, i wanted to do it because i enjoy these things. There will come a day when my kid won't go to a pumpkin patch and i can work all day and night if i want.

Why are you bitching? Do you want your kid to be the ONLY kid whose parents couldnt be bothered to take the time? You sound like a lazy parent.

[Anonymous]

Our Pre-K and daycare never asked for parents to come, but they only did fieldtrips in the summer and only for kids old enough to ride the bus (5). I've only had the opportunity to chaperone one field trip in 3 years of elementary school and took that day off. In our elementary, the teachers allow one parent chaperone, so there is a bit of competition to attend the few fieldtrips.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child is in Pre-k. I got a note that a field trip to a pumpkin patch is scheduled in October. An adult is expected to transport the child there and back to school, and be in attendance during the field trip (0900-1200). I asked the teacher if a parent was unable to attend, would the child stay at the school (which is a daycare that does before/after care for Pre-k). She said she has never had a child unable to attend, and that a grandparent or other adult could bring the child instead of the parent, or that I could just take off work the few hours during the trip (so I wouldn't be at work from 0830-1300).

Is this normal? Do parents use PTO for things other than sick days? I really don't imagine many parents willing to take a day off for a pumpkin patch trip, or that it would be normal to just go to work at 1300. I would love to go, and I don't want my child to miss the trip. I just think it's unreasonable to expect parents to take a day off work for something other than an illness or a vacation.

At my kids preschool, they had the same thing for the pumpkin patch. I had to transport my kid and stay. Took the morning off from work, NBD. If i couldn't, my DH would have. However, i wanted to do it because i enjoy these things. There will come a day when my kid won't go to a pumpkin patch and i can work all day and night if i want.

Why are you bitching? Do you want your kid to be the ONLY kid whose parents couldnt be bothered to take the time? You sound like a lazy parent.

Agree. I always feel bad for these kids. Why have kids if you work all day everyday and don't take a few days off to enjoy parenthood, life, your child at this moment happy to be with his Mama on a field trip. You will ALWAYS regret not being there for your kids. You will NEVER regret taking some time off.

[Anonymous]

Yes, parents take time off.

That being said, by the time my kid was in Pre-K, I was so over the whole pumpkin patch thing having done it too many times on our own so I would be annoyed.

The teacher is going to tell you that all kids go because they want kids to go and not need a teacher for the day for the kids who stay behind. Kids can stay behind. It will be fine.

Alternatively, keep your child home that day and get a back up sitter to come to your house (It sounds like working from home is not an option for you)

[Anonymous]

Yes, most of the volunteer parents on field trips are parents that work outside the home. Moms and Dads. At least that's how it is at our school. The SAH or WAH parents come into the school and do other types of volunteering.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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?

DH is a very specialized surgeon so another surgeon can't just take his spot if he calls out. He operates 3 days per week and books out 3 months in advance. He has to plan way in advance to take time off. Our kids are in elementary school and he has already requested off for Columbus Day weekend, teacher work days in November and winter break. There are also a few school events where he is taking half days. He went on the zoo field trip last year. I did pumpkin patch because he didn't have enough notice. He moved a few patients last year to come to Thanksgiving lunch at school. He won't be going this year because it falls on a surgery day. We tag team.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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?

DH is a very specialized surgeon so another surgeon can't just take his spot if he calls out. He operates 3 days per week and books out 3 months in advance. He has to plan way in advance to take time off. Our kids are in elementary school and he has already requested off for Columbus Day weekend, teacher work days in November and winter break. There are also a few school events where he is taking half days. He went on the zoo field trip last year. I did pumpkin patch because he didn't have enough notice. He moved a few patients last year to come to Thanksgiving lunch at school. He won't be going this year because it falls on a surgery day. We tag team.

For the record, I have gotten into many fights with DH about how I have to take all the hits for sick days. Thankfully kids are older now and don't get sick as often. I have had to turn around from going to work, pick up sick kid, drive to meeting late, have my admin sit in my car with sick child while I attend meeting, then drive home with sick kid after meeting.

It is much easier for DH to take off for the teacher work days and breaks that are on the calendar a year in advance.

[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.

I was surprised and annoyed the first year, too. But, there aren't that many of them, and DH and I split them. If I really can't go, Grandma would come, or we'd find someone else.

[Anonymous]

DH and I rotate who will attend the field trips. We use the No School Today programs to cover those days so we can usual our annual leave for trips and other school events.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You sound like a lazy parent.

Yes, because balancing work and children is such an easy thing to do.