The one thing you hear when your little one starts school is “the first year is the worst, they’re always sick!” And although they may be right, it’s annoying as hell because it can be avoided! Now let’s be clear here, I’m not a doctor or a nurse and to be totally honest, I have ZERO medical education, but I do have common sense or at least I’d like to think I do!
Let’s do some common sense thinking here…you have a sick kid (not the sniffles), what do you do?
A) Keep your little one home until they are well and healthy enough to return to school.
B) Drop them off at school so they can infect everyone else in their class room.
If you answered “B” then you’re a moron! Yes, I just called you a moron and frankly I don’t care because it’s the truth. Actually, a selfish moron probably works better.
How on earth do you think that sending your sick child to school makes any sense? I know that when I’m sick I tend to feel like crap so how do you think your little one feels? Let’s be clear here, I’m not talking about a kid with a little cough or the sniffles, I’m talking about a fever, a stomach bug, a nasty virus that is highly contagious. So instead of keeping them home to rest, so that their body can recoup and get better, you bring them to school where they can’t get the rest they need and deserve and at the same time infect their classmates.
Let’s talk a little about how quickly viruses spread especially with little ones who aren’t as diligent as adults with washing hands or coughing and sneezing into their arm…it’s spreads like wild fire! So now that 1 kid who was sick turns into 3 kids and so on and so forth. But wait, it doesn’t end there because these sick kids bring that nasty bug home to their family and continue to spread this crap. Now you have entire families who are sick…like little babies who don’t have the immune system to fight off these bugs. You might have other children who have compromised immune systems and a common cold can send them to the nearest hospital emergency room and not to mention the parents who are home from work because they too are now sick (unless of course you’re one of those morons who still goes into work to infect and spread things there too).
After some time passes, that first kid with the moron parents is feeling better and the nastiness has made it’s way through the entire class (because although some parents kept their kids home others didn’t so it continued to spread) and guess what? That last kid infected that first kid again…it’s a vicious cycle and we as parents are the only ones that can prevent this from happening.
So how do we prevent it? We stop being selfish! When our kids are sick, we make them a priority and do what we need to do to make them better. We take the day off work and guess what if you don’t have sick days you use a vacation day and stay home with your little one. This is where I think the problem is…taking time off work and this is where I shake my head. Why you ask? Because for some reason if people aren’t able to use a sick day on their child and instead need to use a vacation day they won’t do it because OMG God forbid but they need that day for their upcoming trip to Cuba. Guess what jerk, this is your child and your child relies on you to help them feel better and watch out for them. So you take that day off work and you do what you need to do. You not only owe it to your child but to the other children in the class and their families. You may think to yourself…ah it’s nothing they will be fine but you have no idea what other children might be battling or who is back home with little babies or other family members with health issues. If stuff like this doesn’t cross you’re mind and you’re only thinking of yourself you have a problem…you’re SELFISH! Just because your child can take some meds and is fine in a few days time doesn’t mean all kids are like that.
So to recap, if you have a sick kid don’t be a selfish moron! Take the day off work to stay home and take care of your child. Yes, it’s that simple!
And for those of you that say your boss won’t allow it, call the Ministry of Labour and have a chat with them! Workplace changes can start with you!