So I don't feel well today. Took temp...100.3, took meds. Thankfully the kids were not their usual Monday selves. One Mom called to say her child was getting picked up at school and not coming cause she didn't feel well.I told her I felt the same(not one word of acknowledgement).So do you all tell your parents that you are not feeling great? I can still take care of the kids and all but I'd rahter be laying on the couch or bed.And not really feeling like I will know before kids arrive in the am if tomorrow will be any different....I'm the sole wage earner.....so closing has to mean I'm on the way to the er.How many of you work feeling like this?I have no symptoms of a cold or anything....just not up to par.Thanks for all ya'll will say on here .

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I have it in my contract that I get 5 paid sick/personal days, but I haven't closed because of being sick yet and probably won't unless I'm really sick.

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I work thru most anything, can't remember ever closing for being sick myself, but its usually basic stuff like colds, sinus infections, etc. 99% of the time I got it from a daycare kid, LOL! Often I just put on a happy face for the 5 min. I see a parent, and then we take it easy that day. Sometimes I like them to know little junior gave me their "teething" or "allergies".

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The only time I have closed was for a horrible migraine- I now have pills for this. Wouldn't want the parents to have to miss work, right ( sarcasm). We have things a little different being self- employed and all. I would only "call in" if it would interfere with my ability to care for the kids. Sadly, morning sickness was something I had to power through for the 13 weeks it took to run it's course. If I worked outside of the house, I would have taken a sick day!

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I'd only close if I was extremely sick. I haven't closed yet (open 1 year). I know it's a huge burden for parents since it'd likely be with little notice. So far I've only picked up what the daycare kids had and got sick on the weekend

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I do the SAME THING!

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I think I'd go with my gut instinct. I haven't been sick enough (knock on wood) to not open for daycare but there have been days when I haven't felt the best and would have loved if all of the kids called in sick and I could have stayed in bed, lol.

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I've closed if I'm clearly sick and have been exposed to strep. Otherwise I pretty much work through. Usually I get sick on the weekend Fun, huh?
Most parents don't notice. That's okay with me unless I am feeling really bad and would like some appreciation I usually have one or two families who will notice and feel bad for me. Once in a while, they'll even pick up a few minutes early when they know I'm under the weather.
Good enough for me

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I'm sorry you are sick!!
I run cool, so if I'm at 101, I'm usually *very* sick. Thankfully I have paid sick days so if I need them I take them. I've called out twice this year due to being sick. I don't think that's too much, I find if you don't ever call out, the one time you do parents will be more upset because they've come to expect it will never happen.
Got to keep them on their toes!!
On a serious note I just had to redo my health plan and it states that exclusion criteria includes the provider as well. This means if licensing finds out I was sick (or a parent complains to licensing I was operating while sick) I could be cited.

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I tend to trudge through it....unless it's a nasty stomach virus.
Had to call out 2 times this past yr for that.

Before that I hadn't called out for a sick day in 4yrs! Was obviously out of practice too, because I forgot to make some phone calls. Wouldn't ya know it the day that I did, I not only got a visit from the food police, but my family resource too. Figures!

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I closed in March for a sick day, but it was my DS not me. Someone brought us a stomach virus. I've never closed for myself being sick though. Dh helped me one day when I had a migraine and when I had a Staph infection and had to spend the night in the hospital for IV antibiotics. Luckily I was closed the day I was released because it was the 4th of July. I closed once when I first opened about 2yrs ago because all of my kids had a stomach virus, again, brought in by a daycare family.

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nope I don't tell them my problems, unless I were to feel that my problem could become theirs.

I have worked through just about everything know to man and have never passed it off to a daycare kid.

HOWEVER, I am also very fortunate to have a husband who is a physician. I got very ill a few months back with food poison, I think maybe I threw up about 30 times, to the point of puking blood.

This was on a Wednesday afternoon. He was able to give me an IV during nap time. The kids were taken care of by him and my staff for the rest of the day and the next day I was still feeling horrible, but went right back to work. I just didn't expect much of myself, so I didn't even try.

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I only close if I'm puking, and so far that's only been 2-3 times in the past 15 years. Otherwise I'm rarely sick enough to consider closing.

BTW, I saw this on FB and it cracked me up...

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Any time I have a fever I close... I don't know what it is about fevers, but I just can't handle it. I have nightmares, my body hurts, I turn I to a huge baby.

I get strep a couple times a year (my tonsils are pure nasty so I'm guessing they just don't filter like they should)... I sound like a frog, but as long as I don't have a fever and I've started antibiotics I just push through.

I have closed a couple of times since I opened.. especially for stomach bugs. I don't get paid for days I'm closed so I honestly don't feel as bad. I was legitimately sick. And none of the kids caught my bugs so I like to think it was a good idea to close

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That is hilarious.... Although I had a daycare mom who would drop her kids off with oozing colds, strep, ect and tell me that "it's just a cold".... but pretty regularly took off days off work and would drop her kids off because she had "the worst cold" and would try to give me a sympathy story about how they just take everything out of her and she just can't go to work.


Funny how that works.

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I follow the same rules I expect the families to follow when it comes to being sick. If I have a fever over 100, throwing up, etc, I will close. I can spread the sickness just like the kids can, so I'm going to close and prevent the spread. It usually only ends up being 2-3 times a year, and usually I get hit the same time all the kids do, so we're all down and out anyway.

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This is what I do.

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This is an old post I know. But I was searching for an answer to my issue today and thought this might help another person in the same boat: I have only closed once in the last year. I was vomiting and feeling terrible between bouts of it. It lasted only a few hours in the morning but it was best that I was resting the rest of the day and able to clean up the house somewhat after it was over. I have helpers now, so I sometimes schedule one of them preemptively the night before to cover the entire day if I suspect I will be in the bed or need to make a trip to the doctor. That way we still get paid and I make a little bit off the day. Do you have a sub or helper you can call on when you need a day off?

I may make a strategic closing tomorrow coincidentally. One DCG threw up everywhere today in my car. She happened to be the only child left at the time and so I rinsed her off in the tub (it was everywhere) and mid rinse she told me she was going to get sick again so I got her out quickly and she did in the toilet. Then according to DCM she got sick again in the car on the way home. Since she was picked up my kids and I have been in the bathroom non STOP. I feel lousy. Just generally weak and I keep having waves of nausea. My kids stopped eating a while ago and since then there have been no more bathroom trips for them (I stay open if they are ill - just quarantine them) but I am most likely closing tomorrow. If it isn't the stomach bug coming on then at the least I need a day to sanitize and rotate toys out because it was clearly a virus with her vomiting 3 times in 35 minutes. Plus I don't want my helpers coming tomorrow and picking up the sickness, leaving me high and dry later this week. It is extremely inconvenient for my parents so I let them know what is going on earlier today - and told them if they did find an alternate babysitter, that I would credit them and if I closed they get credited anyway. Who knows if they will take the hint or not. But I have a feeling overnight things will transpire and I will feel right with my decision. Either way - one closure a year to me is really good and I think parents who choose home daycare will have to realize this is a possibility with a one provider situation. Better to take a day for yourself and re-charge than to find yourself really ill for a longer period of time. Also I feel like I may be protecting the kids who are coming tomorrow - because they weren't here today, and this may help keep them from getting the virus. Take the day if you can and feel better!

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I allot myself 5 sick days and 5 personal days a year and have zero guilt about using them

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I'm re-reading this thread and honestly, it makes me sad.

I can see working through minor colds and what not, but I refuse to work when I am truly sick. I value my health way too much to let it go for day care families.

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I generally just work through minor stuff. I let parents know so they can choose if they don't want DCK exposed, but really if I'm sick I probably picked it up from them. If it's something major or really contagious I close, but I can't remember the last time I closed other than my hospital trip and 1 time I had pink eye (I get it about once a year) so bad I couldn't see clearly.

When I update policies next month I'm thinking about adding language to address sick time for me. I haven't figured out the wording yet.

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Considering everything I've been exposed to over the last two and a half decades I am fairly sure I can safely say I am immune to pretty much everything.

However, if I were experiencing any of the "major" excludable symptoms ~ fever, diarrhea, vomiting or strep/other highly contagious illnesses, I'd close.

I charge families the same rate 52 weeks a year.

I don't have a set number of days that I allow myself to be closed for personal or sick days, I would just take what I need when I need it and be respectful of the amount and timing of these days. While I do think I have an obligation to my clients to be dependable I also think this type of this is a perk of being self-employed....Ultimately, I just do what works for me and my family.

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Old thread, but yeah, I work through everything. I have lupus, fibro, sjogrens, hashimotos, ibs, etc. I'm a walking, talking autoimmune disaster.

One time I was puking and my husband took the day off of work to run the daycare.

It's more rare I have a day where I feel great

This is a great job for me because on the days I feel really crappy, I can relax more. Read more books to the kids, put on music and let them dance, etc. At an office job I couldn't do that.

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I'm with you. It's not often that I'm sick enough to need to close, but when I am, I do. There's no shame in it. We are human--not super human!

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I hate reading about the providers who had heart attack or strokes because they could never make it to the doctor. They knew their health wasn't good but didn't want to "let their clients down"
I think we need to treat ourselves as people of value or we can't be surprised when others don't.

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This is where a great sub comes in handy! I pay my subs (I have two) a lot of money per hour for them to come and watch the kiddos for doctor appts. It's worth it to look hard and find subs you trust.

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EXACTLY!!!! No wonder people get so burned out with this job if we don't take care of ourselves along with everybody else. Thankfully I'm kind of like BC, seemingly immune to most everything, plus take echinachea when sickness is going around, so I don't seem to need many sick days. But if I need them, I TAKE them. None of us is a super being and we should be expected to get ill like everyone else does. I understand parents get inconvenienced with such short notice and that's why I stress in my handbook to have backup available because life happens. Even to us super women(oops and MEN).

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I would close if I was vomiting or was pretty sure I had the flu (proper influenza), but I can't imagine closing due to a cold or other "minor" illness. I also don't exclude for colds unless the child becomes feverish or is super miserable.

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Exactly how I'm feeling today. I work through it. BUT what gets on my last nerve is when parents are off work, and can visbily see that I'm not feeling well, and they'll still have their kid here the entire day! But when the parents are sick, they bring their child to daycare so they can rest...like HELLO?!

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I have a question and I hope it doesn't come off wrong! I'm just sincerely wondering.

I have in my contract that a child can't come to daycare if they have a fever of 100.5 or higher.

I don't have an assistant, so if I have a fever of 100.5 or higher, should I close?

What do y'all do? (Sorry if this has been asked already in this thread!)

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