+Marty Brumback woke up this morning with sniffles and coughing. He was one miserable man-cub, and I would have loved to keep him home from school because I knew he felt lousy. Last week, however, I had to have a Parent Conference with the Vice Principal of his school because, over the course of the year, Marty has missed 17 days. Granted, that would have been more like eight or nine days if they didn't have the policy that a kid can't return to school unless it has been more than 24 hours since they last threw up or had a fever, which I pointed out, but they have threatened not to let him come back next year if he misses any more (we had to apply to send him to a different school district than the one our house is in, I didn't want my sweet, innocent little lamb in a mega-school).
In fact, despite Marty earning a "Character Counts" shirt and excelling in his academics, the school sent a report to the school district's central office to say he was "not in good standing" because of his absences! THEY SEND HIM HOME!
He got choked in lunch one day and threw up. They sent him home. He wasn't sick - he got choked. I'm okay with that. I sent him to school the next morning - he wasn't sick, not in the least - and they sent him home! He was sick, missed a day, felt fine and dandy the next day. I sent him to school. The school nurse called him down and asked if he'd had a fever the day before - asked the then five-year-old - who said he wasn't sure. They sent him home! He felt fine, he hadn't, in fact, had a fever, but they sent him home.
I told the Vice Principal I would just lie from now on and send him when I felt he was feeling better, regardless of his fever or throwing up status the day before. The VP did not like that answer, but what else can I do? He's a kid, he's in school for the first time, he's going to get sick. He's going to have 24-hour bugs that are gone after one day of misery. He bounces back quickly (not much can keep that kid down).
But this morning, he was miserable, and I wanted to keep him home. I feel awful about sending him to school with just a dose of cold medicine. I feel like a monster for not telling the school to shove it and keeping him home, but I really want him to be able to go back next year. It's a good school and a good environment, better than anything our district has to offer.
So, I guess I have to be "Tough Mommy" instead of "Good Mommy," and we all have to make sacrifices. Poor man-cub. Bad Mommy.
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