Sick Kids - Parent Called & She Takes Her Time

[sarahtheresa02]

I had a little girl come down with a 100.2 fever yesterday afternoon. I called her mom and told her that she needed to come get her within the hour (that's our state law). She said she would be there as soon as she could. An hour goes by and she isn't here so I call her. She doesnt answer. I leave a message. I called their Dad and he doesnt answer. No other emergency contacts. She shows up 2 hours after the initial call and said she had to go to the store first. WHAT!!!

Then she was upset that her daughter had to sit on the couch for two hours while the other kids played. TOO BAD! I am not going to allow her to be in direct contact with 4 other kids (two of which just got over the flu).

Help! Now what? Do I let them go, or do I let it pass this time?

[seashell]

Originally Posted by sarahtheresa02

I had a little girl come down with a 100.2 fever yesterday afternoon. I called her mom and told her that she needed to come get her within the hour (that's our state law). She said she would be there as soon as she could. An hour goes by and she isn't here so I call her. She doesnt answer. I leave a message. I called their Dad and he doesnt answer. No other emergency contacts. She shows up 2 hours after the initial call and said she had to go to the store first. WHAT!!!

Then she was upset that her daughter had to sit on the couch for two hours while the other kids played. TOO BAD! I am not going to allow her to be in direct contact with 4 other kids (two of which just got over the flu).

Help! Now what? Do I let them go, or do I let it pass this time?

I would give her another chance, but also give her a copy of your sick child policy!

[tymaboy]

If it is the state law be sure to point that out in your policy. Here it is not the law but I figure an hour is more then enough time for my
parents to pick up a sick child. When I 1st started I had a family like did that since then I have revised my policy & add if the child is not picked up with in an hour they will be charged $20 for each additional hour or partial hour.

[sarahtheresa02]

I am going to give her another copy of my handbook with that part highlighted. In addition I am going to ask her to read it over and let me know if there is any other part she may have questions on. She already signed an acknowledgement when she enrolled her daughter but I think she needs a refresher course

I'd also give her a written warning stating that if she is called again to pick up for any reason and is not there within the hour she will either be fined $1 a minute after the first hour or childcare will be terminated immidiately for lack of respect by parent for your/state policies and make her pay your two weeks termination fees. I'd make her return the notice the next day with both parents signature or child wouldnt be allowed into care..

I would terminate. She went to the store first??? Uh, hello, you have a SICK kid sitting at daycare! One, it is not YOUR job to be a nurse. Two, she is exposing her illness to all the other kids. And three, she felt like crap and her mom couldn't have the consideration for her OWN child to come get her and take her home.

Yep, I would have terminated on the spot.

[Chickenhauler]

Originally Posted by judytrickett

I would terminate. She went to the store first??? Uh, hello, you have a SICK kid sitting at daycare! One, it is not YOUR job to be a nurse. Two, she is exposing her illness to all the other kids. And three, she felt like crap and her mom couldn't have the consideration for her OWN child to come get her and take her home.

Yep, I would have terminated on the spot.

One must first take into consideration-

How far the parent works from where the daycare location is. I know of several people who commute an hour+ to work each way. Not everyone lives 5 mins from work.

What is the location of the store? Right by where she works, and no available options near home/daycare? What did she get at the store? Children's Tylenol or a 6 pack of beer?

Reason I bring this up, is we live in a remote area-the nearest gas station is 10 mins away, nearest pharmacy is 20-25 mins. Nearest Wal Mart is 35-40 mins, etc.

Not everyone lives in suburbia where everything is within a mile of home.

[sarahtheresa02]

She lives in apartments that are literally right across the street from my subdivision. Walmart is on the corner. I dont know what she bought there so you are right there... it might have been Tylenol or something of that nature. So I will give her that. She works across town. I could drive it in rush hour traffic in about 15 minutes.

My feeling is that if you tell someone you are on your way the polite thing would be to let them know if something came up and you can't be there when you said you would be.

[AmandasFCC]

I agree Sarah. My thoughts in this situation were that I think as providers we would be aware if the parent worked out of town or if there were legitimate reason for what happened in your case to have taken place. I have a child in care who's Mom works out of town. I know if he is sick that it's going to be over an hour for her to get here. Therefore, I wouldn't be on here bitching if that were the case. I suspect that's the case here too (confirmed in above post)...

When I was a kid and I was being picked up early due to sickness, my mom took me to the store on our way home if we needed cough syrup or tylenol or what have you. She would be at my school/daycare within minutes to get me because there is absolutely NO respectable reason to #1 put the the sick child through the agony of waiting, and #2 to expose the other children.

Personally, I think I would have had an all-out brawl with the mother in this case. How ignorant to disregard the needs of your child in such a gross manner. As you said, highlight the part in the contract where she agreed to be there in no more than an hour, and add a clause charging per minute that she is late.

Parents these days .... *shakes head*

Originally Posted by amandasfcc

. She would be at my school/daycare within minutes to get me because there is absolutely no respectable reason to #1 put the the sick child through the agony of waiting, and #2 to expose the other children.

Personally, i think i would have had an all-out brawl with the mother in this case. How ignorant to disregard the needs of your child in such a gross manner. as you said, highlight the part in the contract where she agreed to be there in no more than an hour, and add a clause charging per minute that she is late.

Parents these days .... *shakes head*

i totally agree!

[momof3]

I had a 7 month old not only come down with a fever today, but literally had diareah all over the pack n play. I called the mom at 10:45. She called me back and said gandpa is on his way but is leaving from work (42 miles away). He finally got to my house at 1:15. The problem that I had with this, is my policy is p/u within an hour. Second...that's how long it takes to get here in rush hour...not at 11:00 in the afternoon/morning. I couldn't put the child down for a nap, although naptime here is from 12-2:30 because her pack n play was outside getting dried after I had to disinfect it, and I wasn't willing to put her in another one, not knowing what to expect, and not wanting to scrub another one. The H1N1 flu is going around here pretty strong right now, and the last thing I wanted was a sick kid here for an additional 2 hours. Then the gandfather gets here and tells me his other grandchild had the same thing all weekend (the kids were all together). When I asked the 4 year old sibling if her sister was sick this weekend, she told me her mother had been giving her medicine. I have 3 of my own school age kids, and I am trying to keep them from getting sick. I clorox wipe all the surfaces in the daycare area several times a day. It's just very frustrating when I am doing all I can to keep the kids from getting sick, and the parents bring them in anyway. Thanks for letting me vent!!!