We schedule it, my H works a 4/5/10 so he has 1 day off every two weeks. I have 21 years in the Fed and have tons of leave.

My kids have to plan their day, if it is a heavy workload day they will have too much work to make up so they even plan, not too much work day, or it is a day before vacation so they have time to make up work, etc.

Just like my husband and I have to plan a day that is good so we don't dis our coworkers.

That is why I think it is good training for the kids.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, of course. I have one elementary aged kid and about 3 times a year we just take a day off and go do fun stuff.

Sometimes skiing at Whitetail, or visiting museums. Once we went to Philadelphia to go to the Franklin Institute to see a traveling exhibit. One time only, we went sledding and had the entire hill to ourselves.

I pointedly do not tell the school the reason for the absence. I don't counsel my kid to lie, though, if asked directly "Where were you yesterday?"

+1 we do it once in Fall and once in Spring. I think it is good training - nobody ever said on their death bed I wish I spent more time at work.

My H and I do it 6 times a year, take a day off for a date day.

Curious about the PP who says she and her H take a day off for date day 6 times a year. Is this something you are scheduling ahead with your employers -- you are using vacation time? If so, that's no big deal and actually a pretty cool thing to do. But if you are really calling in "sick" every other month and potentially leaving your bosses and colleagues in the lurch -- there is a big difference. And I guarantee -- if you are calling in "sick" every other month, on top of the times when you actually *are* sick -- your bosses are on to you.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Interesting thread. For those of you who do this with your kids, how do you tell them it's an option while making sure they still appreciate that it's special?

I'm the pp that had the special days with my mom. We had to maintain top grades and effort throughout the year. It was not a given that we would have a special day, we had to earn it. I never got sick in school - ever. And my parents never took us out to extend a vacation or weekend. So this was almost always my only absence every year.

For the PP who suggested that it might cause children to be raised thinking work/school was an "option" I can say that is not the case with me or my siblings. We had a very strong work ethic ingrained in us from an early age (paper routes when young, worked through HS and college and had to pay for half of any extras that we wanted to do, like Paris with the French club). This work ethic was not tainted by one special day with my mom a year. I have worked for the same company for 12 years and have called in exactly once. I can say with an extremely high level of confidence that all of my siblings have maintained a similar absentee rate through their work experiences as well.

One day off a year doesn't spoil a child.

PP here -- the one who talked about kids thinking school/work was an option. Your upbringing sounds awesome, actually. One special day with you mom a year, when you're never/rarely sick -- to me that is a very different thing. I have known moms that keep their kids home at the drop of a hat, and that's the kind of thing I am talking about. As with all of these things, it depends on the kid. If you have a kid who is a ridiculously hard worker, they haven't been sick all year, they could use a break on one day when there are no tests or other major things planned, OK!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, of course. I have one elementary aged kid and about 3 times a year we just take a day off and go do fun stuff.

Sometimes skiing at Whitetail, or visiting museums. Once we went to Philadelphia to go to the Franklin Institute to see a traveling exhibit. One time only, we went sledding and had the entire hill to ourselves.

I pointedly do not tell the school the reason for the absence. I don't counsel my kid to lie, though, if asked directly "Where were you yesterday?"

+1 we do it once in Fall and once in Spring. I think it is good training - nobody ever said on their death bed I wish I spent more time at work.

My H and I do it 6 times a year, take a day off for a date day.

Curious about the PP who says she and her H take a day off for date day 6 times a year. Is this something you are scheduling ahead with your employers -- you are using vacation time? If so, that's no big deal and actually a pretty cool thing to do. But if you are really calling in "sick" every other month and potentially leaving your bosses and colleagues in the lurch -- there is a big difference. And I guarantee -- if you are calling in "sick" every other month, on top of the times when you actually *are* sick -- your bosses are on to you.

Anonymous wrote:Interesting thread. For those of you who do this with your kids, how do you tell them it's an option while making sure they still appreciate that it's special?

I'm the pp that had the special days with my mom. We had to maintain top grades and effort throughout the year. It was not a given that we would have a special day, we had to earn it. I never got sick in school - ever. And my parents never took us out to extend a vacation or weekend. So this was almost always my only absence every year.

For the PP who suggested that it might cause children to be raised thinking work/school was an "option" I can say that is not the case with me or my siblings. We had a very strong work ethic ingrained in us from an early age (paper routes when young, worked through HS and college and had to pay for half of any extras that we wanted to do, like Paris with the French club). This work ethic was not tainted by one special day with my mom a year. I have worked for the same company for 12 years and have called in exactly once. I can say with an extremely high level of confidence that all of my siblings have maintained a similar absentee rate through their work experiences as well.

One day off a year doesn't spoil a child.

Anonymous wrote:Interesting thread. For those of you who do this with your kids, how do you tell them it's an option while making sure they still appreciate that it's special?

I've already posted. To answer your question, I don't tell my child that playing hooky is an option among many -- why, just let me know when you don't feel like "meeting your obligation"! or whatever PP said. Instead I just surprise him the night before. Hey. What do you say we go skiing tomorrow?

Anonymous wrote:Interesting thread. For those of you who do this with your kids, how do you tell them it's an option while making sure they still appreciate that it's special?

You just say "tomorrow we are going to ----." And they love it. My mom took me Christmas shopping. Guess who still calls his mom every day at age 47 even though I live five hours away with my own family? Those are special memories.

Yep, mental health days.

Anonymous wrote:Yes, of course. I have one elementary aged kid and about 3 times a year we just take a day off and go do fun stuff.

Sometimes skiing at Whitetail, or visiting museums. Once we went to Philadelphia to go to the Franklin Institute to see a traveling exhibit. One time only, we went sledding and had the entire hill to ourselves.

I pointedly do not tell the school the reason for the absence. I don't counsel my kid to lie, though, if asked directly "Where were you yesterday?"

+1 we do it once in Fall and once in Spring. I think it is good training - nobody ever said on their death bed I wish I spent more time at work.

My H and I do it 6 times a year, take a day off for a date day.

Anonymous wrote:I would never - ever do this. The only thing remotely that we have done is my child misses 1/2 a day for take your child to work day. That's it. (Even then - I have him back by lunch, no exceptions).

To the poster who is seemingly proud she had the whole hill to herself for her to sled with her child...shame on you. That's like being proud you have a bar to yourself because you're the last one to leave. Nothing to brag about. Wish I knew who you were.

Not the poster your responding to here. Your post is pretty severe. I cant even imagine what youre trying to accomplish. It's a parents choice to do this. We do it, my parents did it. I think it's a positive thing. We can disagree.

Yes, I also refer to it as a mental health day. DS is a great, hardworking kid. He's at a big3 and some times he just needs to destress and have a fun day. What's the big deal? I tell his teachers that he's out sick.

Interesting thread. For those of you who do this with your kids, how do you tell them it's an option while making sure they still appreciate that it's special?

Absolutely not. I have been appalled in recent years by co-workers who seem to wake up and think that "going to work" is just one of many options for how they might spend their day. I wonder where these habits got started. I am teaching my kids that we get up and go to work or school. Sometimes we wake up and we are tired. Oh well! Suck it up and go to work. Sometimes we wake up and have a headache. Oh well, take a Tylenol...you will probably be fine in an hour. You don't go to work or school when you are actually sick-- which usually means a fever and/or throwing up.

Bottom line -- we have obligations and we need to meet them. There is plenty of opportunity for down-time. You can schedule vacation, and the schools have plenty of days off and half-days. Much less, weekends. This is a core value to instill in your kids. They need to tough it out until the next half-day or weekend. I am sorry to rant but this is just a "thing" for me. My son has a buddy who just invited him to skip the class field trip to hang out and have a "fun" day with him. Granted, the field trip is not a day of classroom instruction, but it is part of the curriculum and I'm shocked that his parents consider it OK to blow it off. We don't blow off our obligations.

I realize I must sound like a real barrel o' monkeys. I'm actually a really fun mom. My boys adore me. But they know that going to school -- and for that matter, doing their homework-- is non-negotiable.

We do 2 mental health days a year for the kids. All they have to do is come to me and say they need it and I spend the day with them getting them back to center.
I think people need to learn how to take care of themselves and this is part of that. I sometimes need to take a day off and get myself back to center so I am fine with them doing the same as long as I am here to help. Also, I believe it has shown them that they can trust me and I will be there for them.
They are hardly ever sick and they also have never pretended to be sick. FWIW my parents did this for me too...

Yes!

Anonymous wrote:I would never - ever do this. The only thing remotely that we have done is my child misses 1/2 a day for take your child to work day. That's it. (Even then - I have him back by lunch, no exceptions).

To the poster who is seemingly proud she had the whole hill to herself for her to sled with her child...shame on you. That's like being proud you have a bar to yourself because you're the last one to leave. Nothing to brag about. Wish I knew who you were.

I feel extremely sorry for your children.