How sick does your child have to be to stay off school?
For sure there are guidelines for fevers and contagious symptoms, but there’s a colossal grey area. When they're babies we’re told that “mum knows best”. But school attendance records and human resource Bradford Factor scores in the workplace turn that notion on its head before your child even turns six.
Are you at the “I never let me kids stay off, they’d have to be at death's door” or “in our house we encourage mental health days” end of the spectrum?
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Expensive nurseries will reject your child at the door if they have a runny nose, and primary schools won’t hesitate to call you out of work for a bad case of hay fever, but high schools want bums on seats for Ofsted points. Do we feel like we’re in control of deciding when our children are well enough to concentrate, learn and mix with other children, and when they need to be at home resting?
Surely the old fashioned “grin and bear it” mentality is out dated? Particularly post Covid. Linked to the archaic notion that we should dedicate our lives to work a 60 hour week and neglect our social and private lives, in order to be “successful”. This was more of a realistic notion during times when one person stayed at home to run the household.
But “having it all” is not something we should be striving for in 2021. We should be pushing for flexibility, paid time off to care for our future generations. And not just when they’re sick.
How about we don’t drill the 60 hour week lifestyle into our children? What if they don’t grow up to think that working themselves sick is virtuous? Rather, show them how to live rich and fulfilled lives by taking care of themselves, properly. Maybe then they’d even grow up to want children themselves?
What do you think? Share your views on this subject in the comments section
If you want to be the MD of a company, go for it. But we should detach the notion of laziness and lack of ambition from parents and people who just want a reasonable work/life balance.
Are you setting a good example to you kids by dragging yourself to work with colds, chest infections, stress related skin condition flare ups, burnout and exhaustion?
I’ve always worked through my illnesses and taken unpaid time off work every single time my son has been ill. In retrospect, it’s been terribly stressful and hasn’t led us to success at all. Now I work from home I’m grateful he can stay home with me if he’s ill, and I don’t have that stress.
Many schools are keen to push up attendance levels for Ofsted and encourage you to send you child in if they’re unwell.
It’s understandable that schools want bums on seats after the last 18 months. But you are responsible for your child's heath. Having previously sent my son to school for a week with undiagnosed glandular fever, I can wholeheartedly confirm that those regrets scar!
When I worked in an office full time I’d dread him being ill. But now I work from home, and particularly post covid, I’m more wary of bugs and germs. I’m happy for him to stay home if he’s feeling off. And I’m eternally grateful that it doesn’t cause me stress like it used to.
As we ride out the “super bugs” of autumn 2021 and businesses try to tempt people back into the office, don’t be pressured into overlooking your child’s health just to please you boss. And can you ever really please your boss?
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