Wednesday, February 25, 2009

At Fever Pitch

Last night I faced a classic parenting dilemma. When is the sniffly-nosed, dreary-eyed, almost-feverish kid too sick to send to school?

After Julianna stayed home from school for two days with a fever and cold, she was still running a 99.9 temperature yesterday afternoon. Her congestion had improved, but it still lingered -- as did her runny nose.

With Jack out of town on business, I worked at home both Monday and Tuesday. Those couple of days spent inside the house -- combined with a lack of physical activity -- had us both bouncing off the walls with pent-up energy. By bedtime last night, Julianna was like a wicked little Energizer bunny who was tormenting LJ just for sport.

So how does a parent, eager to return to normalcy and even more desperate for the light of day, take an unbiased view of the school handbook line that reads, "child should be fever free for 24 hours before returning to school?"

What parent hasn't considered giving their less than healthy child a dose of Tylenol just before school drop-off and saying, "Shhh ... don't tell your teacher, honey!"

(For the record, I have only done that once, and I am NOT proud of it).

Besides, who's to say that my thermometer isn't a degree or two high? Maybe that sweatshirt was making her a little overheated? Isn't it possible all that coughing is just from spring allergies? (Never mind it's still February).

Last night, as I once again faced the no-win decision of whether to send Julianna back to school, I opted to make the most informed and objective choice I possibly could.

I left it in the hands of my hyped-up-on-cold medicine 6-year-old daughter.

"So, how do you feel?"

"I feel great!" Julianna said. And to my relief, she sounded like she really meant it.

With new found confidence, I prodded further. "Really? So you feel better than you did yesterday?"

"Yes, definitely!" she said.

I continued on. "So how bad did you feel yesterday?"

"Well," Julianna said, "I felt like I was going to explode and die!"

Not the answer I was looking for.

If she actually thought she was on the verge of spontaneous combustion just 24 hours earlier, then "feeling better than yesterday" was not a very good measuring stick.

It may not be directly referenced in the school handbook, but I assume that if a teacher suspects a child is about to implode, they will probably send that kid home early -- fever or not.

I quickly changed course and determined that the choice of "school or no school" should be made by a responsible adult. Since none were available, that left the decision up to me. And because she wasn't running a fever at bedtime last night or this morning, I sent Julianna back to school.

Today passed without incident -- no calls from the teachers or school nurse.

When I picked Julianna up this afternoon I asked her how her day was.

"Terrific!" she said as she bounded to the car.

"So you feel a lot better?" I asked. "You don't feel like you're going to explode and die?"

"No way," she said. "I think I'm gonna live."

And no Tylenol required.

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