What are you doing when your kid is sick and you need to go to work?
Hi Parents,
I'm looking to know how you are doing when your kids (my daughters have 2 years old and 4) are sick and you need to go to work?
I mean kindergarten send home kids when they are sick, how are you doing to pick them within an hour at school and then keep them home when you have to go to the office to work.
Thanks for your suggestions.
Pierre-Philippe
Nov 2, 2016
Parent Replies
That's tough. If there is no co-parent who can help out, maybe get to know your neighbors or have a few nannies you can get in touch with last minute?
Many parents end up taking the day off when they are sick or their kids are sick.
Welcome to America, the country that does not care about the struggles of working parents and does little to help them.
I would suggest a couple of things:
-having a roster of nannies/sitters you can call, especially last minute.
-asking a neighbor.
-working from home, if possible, or taking care of them during day, then working in the evening.
It's difficult, no matter how you do it! Good luck!
We use the Swiss Cheese Childcare collective as a fallback when neither parent can take time off to cover a sick kid. They can't always find coverage at the very last second but the owner works very hard to do so and had saved us several times when we asked at 7 pm for coverage the next morning. All the sitters have been good, too.
It is tough. When my kids are sick my husband and I take turns staying home with them. If possible, one of us will work from home and put the child in front of the tv for a bit, so if working from home is an option it might help avoid taking too many sick/vacation days off due to kids' illness. We also sometimes ask grandma to help if what the kids have is not too contagious since even though she is willing to help we try to avoid getting her sick so she only babysits sick days when the child is not contagious or has something grandma is immune too or cannot get. We have three kids, so it is tough but working from home has been saving us over the years.
There is not a place that does sick care. You have a few options.
1. Have a parent stay home with them and use a sick day.
2. Get a friend, neighbor, or family member to watch them. Maybe you want to include a babysitter in here if you can find someone who will work last minute during the day.
3. Have a nanny who will watch a mildly sick kid.
When I was around eight my parents started letting me stay home on my own.
Try Swiss Cheese Childcare. I have used them in the past and some of their nannies will charge a "sick child rate", meaning they will babysit sick children.