Sick Baby, Take 12.

My most recent challenge has been dealing with the Kid's sick days.

This morning, I had to run downtown to take a test to keep my recruitment status active for new positions in the County, and had advised my boss ahead of time that I would be late. I arrived at work about an hour later than usual, checked my email, started to go through my Inbox, and 2 seconds later, the Kid's daycare called to say that her snot was green and I needed to pick her up because she was contagious.

Of course it's contagious. She picked it up herself from daycare.

All weekend, I kept her away from my parents, as they are 107 years old, and catch the Kid's illnesses quickly. And then I have to wake them up on Monday morning to tell them I need to drop her off, because she's being sent home and I can't miss another day of work.

Daughter of the Year. I can practically hear the award being printed.

In the daycare parking lot, I met another single mom, Nancy, picking up her sick son, and who looked just as frustrated as I felt. However, Nancy had an hourly job, not salaried, so her day off was a day without pay, with no one else to take her kid.

Last week, the boss casually mentioned that the Kid's been sick a lot lately.

Perhaps I should call him during another sleepless night so he can come over, and we can do each other's hair, and chat about Grey's Anatomy, and get through the night together, since he's obviously concerned.

I looked for other resources online. What are single parents supposed to do with sick kids, when you're out of sick days, and there's no one else to help? The Mayo Clinic had some info, and there's a hospital in Akron, OH, that offers a sick child care center.

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management posted this on their site: "All children get sick from time to time. Most child care centers have policies about sick children and very few allow children with contagious diseases to attend. Some day care centers set aside space to care for mildly ill children. These centers usually have a nurse on staff or on call. The need for such sick child day care centers has produced many centers opened around the country. To find out if there is a center in your area, contact the National Association of Sick Child Day Care Centers, (205) 324-8447. "

I also read a report from '98 that discussed programs implemented by the City of Seattle, WA and the City of Mesa, AZ, which helped to subsidize sick child care so that parents could remain at work.

I think I'll have a fruitless conversation with HR tomorrow regarding my ideas.

Hooray, Monday.