I’ve been wrong and I’ve been right on this one—there have been times (I shamefully admit) that I have been tricked and thought my kids were sick enough to stay home only to have them bouncing around and joyfully playing an hour later—and there have been other times I’ve sent them off to school only to take a call two hours later telling me to come and pick them up. How can a parent know if a child is really too sick for school?
Obviously, from my earlier confession, I don’t think there is a hard-and-fast, unfailing rule for how to determine if a child is really too sick for school. Sure, if they are vomiting, or have a fever, or can’t even get out of bed—then it seems pretty obvious they shouldn’t be forced out the door. But what about the common cold? I know that a child who is contagious shouldn’t be sent to school, but there were years when my children were in the elementary grades where they would have NEVER gone to school if they didn’t go with a bit of a cough and the sneezes.
I wish I could say that after nearly twenty years, I’ve figured it all out and know just when a child should stay home and when she should go to school. In my case, it has been further complicated by temperament—I have one child who will go to school with a cold, but since he suffers from migraines, those really lay him out and he can’t focus at school when he’s dealing with one; and another child who is such a “worker” that she has to be forced to stay home when she’s sick (and now she’s really too old to make stay home.) Generally, it comes down to balance and a crap shoot—I figure the world will go on if they stay home when they aren’t really sick and that I’d rather than happen then have them go to school sickly and infect everyone else (and make themselves sicker.)
Also: Taking Care of Kids When You’re Sick
No Sick Days for Single Parents