Ryan was home sick today. By 8:30 they were fingerpainting. By 8:31 I was ready to stab myself in the face with a fork.
I’m interested in hearing others’ philosophies on when a sick child should stay home. Ry was sick last night, and this morning had a (very low) fever, bad sore throat, swollen glands, snot, etc. He said it hurt to talk and swallow. And he looked pretty pale. He laid around for quite awhile this morning, but for the bulk of the day acted like his normal self. The boys were at each others’ throats all day, and we didn’t leave the house except for a 30 minute outside playtime session for some fresh air.
For the most part, he acted like he could have been in school. And having him home messing up Sam’s and my routine Thursday was not exactly a day at the beach. Ah well…
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In other news, the elf is back. He will greet the children tomorrow when they wake up which I’m sure will throw a wrench into the morning routine but whatever. I dug the elf box out from the highest shelf in our linen closet, only to discover that I had stashed all of last year’s holiday cards in there as well. It was fun to sit down and read everyone’s greetings from 2011!
Elf question, for anyone doing Elf on the Shelf: If the elfie supposedly reappears each year when he’s sent down from the North Pole by Santa, what do I tell my children when they see the boxed Elf on the Shelf kit for sale at Target???
about the elf thing: oh god. i have no idea. it’s kind of like when we go to bentleyville and there is a santa there and then we go on the polar express and santa is there too but WAAAAAY different. hmm.
as for sick days, i make it clear that if they stay home, we are NOT doing anything fun, and then i try to make them as boring for the kid as possible. the last one max had (i think maybe it was spring or summer) i basically made him stay on the couch all day long and refused to take him outside or play anything with him. he could lay there and that was about it. every time he asked to do something, i would just say ‘max, i’m really sorry, but on sick days all we are allowed to do is lay on the couch. you may watch TV, or read books, and i will sit with you, but that is all we can do today. i know, it really isn’t any fun at all, is it? i’m so sorry you’re sick!’ he was pretty much ready to go back to school.
i figure that tactic will work until he’s a teenager and all he WANTS to do is lay on the couch all day. ;)
Ah the “sick” days. I figure we all need a day off every now and then, so if Noah seems better after a couple of hours, eh. Not the worst thing in the world, though it does royally screw up my schedule. And…every time he has said he felt like he was going to throw up in the morning and I sent him to school, he has indeed thrown up. But, I am also 6 blocks from school and not working, so it’s an easier situation for me.