If you do daycare

[Sophia]

I watch my neighbor's 2 year old.

This is not something I sought out, nor is it something I need to keep doing, as in the bills get paid regardless, iykwim.

 

Anyway, the mom is kinda young (26) kinda clueless, and I've had to establish clear boundaries on more than one occasion.

 

Her latest move was coming home sick last Tuesday. She picked up her dd, saying she and her dh had been horribly sick all weekend, and now she felt terrible that she had exposed her colleagues to her illness.

Never mind that her dd was more than likely also a carrier and she had exposed my family~she had never mentioned sickness when she dropped off M.

Then she asked if I could keep M. for the rest of the week while she stayed in bed because she didn't want M. to get sick.

Um, no...I explained to her it's just a matter of time before M. gets sick and I don't want to increase the likelihood that my family get sick also.

 

Fast forward, M did get sick and so did I. M is here today, (not yesterday) and I texted the mom earlier and told her I would not watch M. for the rest of the week as I'm too ill and need to conserve energy for my own family.

 

I suggested she figure out a back-up plan for future illnesses.

I know she's going to ask me what that plan should be, and I'm not sure because I have always been able to stay home with my sick children.

 

What do other working moms do? What are your rules for sick kids coming into your home. What if you're the sick one?

Help...:bigear:

[Wheres Toto]

When I worked full time I always stayed home when dd was sick. I had no choice, her daycare/school didn't want her there and ill child care is not available around here. It made it more likely that I would continue to go into work when I was sick in order to save my days for her so it certainly isn't ideal.

 

When watching other children, I would try not to take sick kids. It's pretty common for parents to dose kids up with Advil etc. in order to drop them off at school or daycare and hope they make it through the day. If they don't, many employers are much more sympathetic to a parent leaving after getting a call from their kids school rather than not coming in to work at all.

 

I would also not watch other children when I was the caregiver and I was sick. When people signed up for me to watch their children I told them to have back-up care available in case I, or one of my children, was sick. If they didn't want to do this, they should look into a childcare center where there were more caregivers available.

[Impish]

I stayed home when my kids were sick.

 

When I did daycare, I expected parents to keep sick kids home. Fever, diarrhea, vomiting, come get your kid.

[Kipling]

I used to watch a little boy while his mother was at work. The boy's grandmother lived nearby, but couldn't watch him regularly due to health issues.

I understand your concerns. When the boy was ill, the mom would call, explain the symptoms and let it be my decision if I wanted to watch him or not. If I said no, she either let grandma watch him or she or husband took a sick day to stay with him. If my kids or I were sick, I would do the same for her and let her make a decision. Unless I felt too sick to watch him, then I would just call and let her know (but I hated to do that on short notice).

I agree that the mother in your situation needs to have a back-up plan. Does she have a mother/aunt/grandmother/retired lady from church in the area who could watch M once in a while? Is there a drop-in daycare in your area? (I know there are places where you can bring your child for one day once in a while without being a regular attendee - this is only in the case that mom or you is sick - not M). How flexible is mom's work? She may just have to take a sick day to care for her sick child. That's what a lot of working moms do. What's her plan for when M is attending public school and gets sick? She can't send a sick kid to school, so what would she do in that situation?

I think if she has never had to think about these things, and she is a rather clueless type, it makes sense that it has never occurred to her to have a back-up plan. Hopefully you two will be able to work something out.

[phathui5]

It's probably time to put something on paper about what your sick child policy is. There are lots of them online. Just google "daycare sick child policy."

[vonfirmath]

I've never been able to take a sick child to daycare. But our previous daycare provider encouraged us to bring our son and let her take care of him if we were not feeling well as long as he was not ill. (And no, she didn't get paid more. It was 1 fee per week, whether we used her or not)

[Sophia]

I think if she has never had to think about these things, and she is a rather clueless type, it makes sense that it has never occurred to her to have a back-up plan. Hopefully you two will be able to work something out.

 

I have no idea how this girl graduated from college and got a job.

She's really sweet, but...wow.

 

I think I have been somewhat of an enabler by making things really easy for her in the past and being way too flexible. However, I am now extremely annoyed that her thoughtlessness has landed me in bed right before Christmas when I have a million things left to do and am now worried my own dc are going to get sick.:banghead:

[Sherry in OH]

When my children were in daycare, they could not go if they were sick. I had to take off work. If they got ill while at daycare, I had to pick them up within an hour. If the child had vomited, he would not be allowed to attend the next day. The same with diarrhea.

 

If I was sick, they could go, but DH had to take and pick them up. If one of the children was sick, the other could go. Again, DH had to take and pick up the child.