Today we sent home a little boy who vomited at school. He was squirrelly all morning. He couldn't sit still, couldn't come to class, couldn't get settled with anything. Finally, he threw up all over himself at recess.
The question we always ask is, "Did he throw up because he's ill or because he's done something dumb like hang too long by his knees from the trapeze?" I hate sending kids home who are not ill. It's such a waste of time for parents and the child is bored to death. The trouble is, we have no legal choice. The state requires us to send home an ill child. An ill child is one who has vomited within a 24 hour period. He really should not be back to school until Wednesday.
I looked at the child. Now Miss Judy is an old fashioned mom. I did the cheek to cheek thing, and he was warm. I'm guessing he had a beginning temp of about 99 degrees. Then I looked at him again, and his eyes were glassy, his cheeks flushed, his hands warm, and his lips chapped. Yep, I thought, time to go home.
Some children take a long time to get sick. Some battle most little illnesses and then snap out of it. Some kids, especially the ones who don't eat well, succumb to just about everything.
Illness is about to happen. Our best policy is to send home children who appear ill as soon as we can. Because kids touch everything, we want to get ill children out of the building as soon as we can. Most parents are cooperative.
Here's a guideline: If a child needs over the counter meds in the morning, he probably isn't well enough to fight off the next kids germs. Keep him home a day just to shore up his little constitution.
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