Wow...It seems like every time I come in here someone else is going through something similar. I was reading someone else's thread about not being able to reach parents for sick children and was surprised by the debate. But then again... NOT surprised.

I'm so frustrated this week and have decided that in 6 months I am cutting myself down to just 2 children. Just the 2 with parents I know I can count on to be honest with me. My husband just started a new job and right now it is part time. If it goes full time (benefits) then I will cut kids out sooner.

To start it off this is a bad week for me anyway. It is the anniversary of my brother's death and his birth day.

I posted a few months ago about a dcg who was sent to my home with "teething" diarrhea. A few hours later she was covered in it. So was my carpeting and another baby that she was playing next to. This was not teething kind of diarrhea, as I ended up with it a few days later (and I'm not teething).

Well here comes this week. Same dcg. Monday she got up from her nap & has diarrhea. When mom picks her up she says something along the lines, "Well she did throw up last night but seemed fine after". Thank you very much.

Tuesday my 19 month old daughter threw up. She did not have any other problems after that, but she would not eat for the rest of the day.

Wednesday I woke up at 6 AM with nausea. By 7am I was praying to the porcelian Gods. At 7:30 my 1st parent arrives (one of the ones I will be keeping) but she had to knock on the door for a good 5-10 minutes before I could finish vomiting to open the door. I turned her away immediately. I texted the rest of my parents and told them not to come. My husband called me at 8:00 from work telling me he was not feeling well. He was later sent home from work, but physically could not leave because he needed to be close to a bathroom.

My husband & I both ended up in the ER by 6pm for dehydration. We spent 4 hours laying in seperate hospital beds before we could be released.

My mother ended up sick on Thursday from being around us earlier in the week. She had to miss 2 days of work.

I just don't think I am cut out for this. I am usually a very healthy person. I had to close down a few times last winter because strep and flu was brought in here and my daughter was sick. I do not have paid sick days. It is not fair for parents to bring sick children into my home...and not pay me when I get sick from their kids.

Sorry for the long post. I'm so very frustrated with this business. I am approaching my 1 year anniversary in childcare and I'm just not sure the positives outweigh the negatives.

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