So the boy is sick. He came home with a runny nose last night. By bed time it was pretty much gushing, instead of running. He had no other symptoms of illness, so I doped him up with some Benadryl and put him to bed. He woke up happy this morning, although with a bit of a runny nose still. I wasn’t quite sure whether to send him to school or not. He was a little mopey, but I hated to keep him home for a runny nose. I checked for a fever, but he didn’t have one so I gave him some Claritin that would last through the day and sent him off to school.
Monday at Zach’s school is promotion day. All of the kids will be moving up to the next class level. To celebrate, the toddler classrooms had a Parent’s lunch today so the parents could come in and meet the new teachers, visit the classrooms, etc.
When I arrived for lunch, Zach was sitting at his table (playing with his plate) quietly. He was excited when he saw me, but immediately told me he wanted to go. I didn’t think much of it since that’s always the first thing out of his mouth when I get there in the evenings to pick him up.
I sat down with him to eat lunch, but he wasn’t eating. He drank a couple of cups of red kool-aid but didn’t want any food at all. I asked him if his tummy hurt but he said no, then a few seconds later he nodded his head yes. He was a little clingy, but still acting ok, so I sat down to eat some lunch.
I kept trying to convince him to eat, but he still refused. Just as I was taking a bite of my chicken wing, all of the boy’s red kool-aid came right back up. It was like a red kool-aid fountain that sprayed all over my plate, my clothes, Zach’s clothes, and eventually landed in the floor. (Seriously, think Exorcist, but red instead of green) It took me a few seconds before I actually realized what had happened and could react. I figured it all out just in time for the second round.
I finally managed to get up out of my seat and get Zach to the bathroom where I cleaned him up and changed his clothes. By the time we got back, the teachers had cleaned up the rest of the mess. I tried to apologize, thinking that I somehow should have predicted this and gotten him out of there earlier. Then I found out that three other kids had already gone home today with the same thing. Apparently this is what I have to look forward to now that he’s in a bigger day care setting.
The fact that he’s sick isn’t really that big of a deal. Kids get sick. I realize this. What I am hating right now is that I ignored my instinct to keep him home this morning and sent him to school even though I knew he wasn’t feeling well. I should have paid attention to my gut instinct, instead of worrying about getting to work. I guess next time I’ll know better.
Aw. Try not to be so hard on yourself. It happens to all of us.
Yes. Don’t be so hard on yourself.
We also have the runny nose/scratchy throat thing going on. Unfortunately, until I myself got the scratchy throat thing we had NO idea that was what was going on. For the toddler, just the runny nose, no fever. He’d point to his mouth and I swear to GOD, I thought he had bit his tongue. Then, I got the scratchy throat and I felt SO bad because that is probably what he meant all along. Sigh.
Hang in there yourself! 😉
I hate to say this, but you will be living this constant conflict for MANY years to come.
My boys are 14 and 16 and I STILL doubt myself when they say they don’t feel well. Did they not do their homework last night and just want a day off to get it done, or are they on their death bead?
You can’t really know.
What I DO advocate for is paying VERY close attention to what is going on in their lives. Are they stressed to go to school because of a bully or an uncomfortable situation? If you don’t think so, err on the side of keeping them home, if for nothing else than a “mental health day.”
I sent my youngest to school in the 7th grade because I thought he was “faking it” and he puked in science class during 2nd period.
Just do your best and then don’t beat yourself up for making a mistake.
Guilt: an essential part of motherhood.
Dont beat yourself up. Barfing sickness can start just a few short hours after first contact. If other kids had this then went home, he could have simply bee in the contact zone and more easily picked it up because of his runny nose. It happens, no reason to beat yourself up. Watch out for it though. Last time my 4 yr old brought home one of those illnesses about 4 hours after she came home we ALL started barfing. ewwwwww I hope he feels better and that no one else gets it
I don’t think you should beat yourself up. It happens. Kids can be surprising — especially sick ones. I’m looking forward to my own experiences in the future. Though I’m dreading these types of experiences… but it’s a package deal.
Heck. I cant even judge for *myself* if I should go in or stay home. I say give yourself a break and a martini (in that order).