Ceilidh woke up this morning smiling. Within a half hour, she declared that she didn't want to go to school. When pressed for a reason, she claimed her tummy was bothering her.
My gut reaction was to ignore her complaints and urge her to get dressed. I followed that instinct. Rather than grudgingly heading up the stairs, Ceilidh slumped her shoulders and whimpered again that her tummy was sore and she was too sick for school.
Felt her forehead - no fever.
Quickly replayed yesterday's conversations in my head - nothing unusual came to mind about any disagreements with classmates.
I decided she was faking it, and laid down the law. If she was truly sick and couldn't go to school, there would be no tv and no playing since she would be too sick for those activities. And, she'd have to take some medicine. Ceilidh HATES medicine. Even when she's burning up with a 103 degree fever, she refuses to take even a sip of Tylenol. It takes two parents, lots of coaxing and pleading to get a dose of any medication down her throat.
I figured faced with those consequences, Ceilidh would give up the fake illness and get ready for school. Instead, she balked a bit and then gamely opened her mouth for the Tylenol.
Maybe she really is not feeling well. There was a bug going around the kindergarten classes last week, after all. But she was fine all weekend.
It's not like I have the conundrum of scrambling for child care or calling in sick myself to care for a sick kid. We're fortunate that was have a nanny. But I don't want my kids thinking every little tummy ache will buy them a day home from school. So, I again debated whether or not I should force her to get ready for school. It is only junior kindergarten. Missing one day won't affect her overall education. But then again, do I want set a precedent for minor tummy aches or, really a grumpy kid? What to do?
I compromised. I let her stay home for the morning, and instructed the nanny to bring her to school for the afternoon if she really was faking it.
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