So when Ellie woke up this morning sounding a bit sniffly and coughing in a mildly phlegmy fashion, I figured we were stuck at home today. Ellie, however, did not take kindly to this idea. "But I wanna go to pweschool! I not sick! I wanna go my pweschool!" I guess I should be grateful she loves her school so much, but then again, dealing with a snotty child (both literally and figuratively) was not how I wanted to start the morning. I compromised by telling her we'd see how she felt closer to preschool time, still planning to keep her home. But when Brett got up and saw her and heard of my tentative "ditching school" plans, he said she seemed find to him. And thus the seed was planted. By 11:30, she was not sniffing or coughing, but was still demanding to go to school. So I gave her some just-in-case cold medicine and off we went, me feeling mildly guilty over the fact that she might have a cold, because I certainly don't want to pass anything on to any other child. But I figured if she played happily, no one would be the wiser to our early morning mucus issues.
Boy, was I wrong. Never tell anything to a four-year-old you don't want the whole world to know. When we got to the parking lot, she ran over to her friend Gabriel's mom and practically shouted, "Gabwiel's mom! Guess what? I was sick this morning and my mommy said I couldn't go to preschool but she gave me medicine and now I'm better!" Gabriel's mom amusedly said, "I hope you're feeling better soon, Ellie," while I immediately tried to explain she really wasn't that bad - at which point she interrupted and said, "I had a gunky nose! And a bad cough!" Great, kid.
Once inside I thought we might be in the clear, but oh no - Ellie ran up to her teacher and proudly told Ms. Rachel the exact thing she'd confessed to Gabriel's mom: "Ms. Wachewl, I was sick and my mommy gave me medicine and now I'm all better!" Yeah. Ms. Rachel's eyes flew to my face so fast, and I knew just what she was thinking. "Does she have a fever?" Ms. Rachel asked. "No," I truthfully replied, and explained she'd been stuffy this morning, but seemed fine now (also true) and that she had really, really wanted to come to preschool (certainly true). Ms. Rachel smiled, but I suspect she really felt otherwise.
So tell me, am I a bad mommy? Guess we'll know in a few days, if everyone else starts coming down with colds at preschool. But seriously, aren't you most contagious in the first few days, usually before you even know you HAVE a cold? Right? RIGHT?
Oh Anne ... I can just see that whole scenario. And since I know EVERYONE in this story .. it's even more amusing to me! I can assure you that preschool teachers don't like it when kids come in after taking a FEVER REDUCER before school. But we also know that every kid gets a snotty nose every 13.2 days (or so it seems) and if they stayed home every time they needed a tissue, our classrooms would be empty all the time!
ReplyDeleteAs for kids telling the world all kinds of things .. well .. most teachers I know have a rule. We don't believe half of what we hear, and we don't mention any of it to anyone else! Oh, some of the stories I COULD tell would make you laugh for hours .. but no ... wait ... I can't!
You're not a bad mommy ... I'm sure Ellie's not the only 'dripper' at school, there is a reason why they make those kids wash their hands constantly at school, and you have to follow your instincts. The other side of the coin is that other mommies take their kids to school when they are not feeling so great too ... and it all works out fine in the end.
Glad Ellie's feeling better! Wash your hands a lot. And don't worry about Miss Rachel ... she probably didn't give it a second thought! :)