People with kids, what do you do when they get sick

[Lola]

Sonovab!tch! :|
this is the 4th time in about two weeks that my coworker had to leave work to go get her sick girl from school.
It is so annoying because that leaves me here at the office by myself. I can handle it but it gets over-loading doing work for 3+ people.

Anyways, to those that have kids... what do you do if you are at your job and the school calls you? do you leave work too? do you have a babysitter/grandparent that can get them?
Is my place of work the "norm" when it comes to dealing with working parents and sick kids?

 

[lokiju]

Pretty messed up, but I'm sure some use it just as an excuse just to get out of work.

 

[bonkers325]

4th time in two weeks? is your coworker's daughter terminally ill or something? its probably an excuse to blow off work

grandparents ftw

 

[Golgatha]

Call the wife and have her pick the boy up. Stay-at-home mom FTW .

Edit: In all seriousness the folks without kids enjoy many more enjoyable days of PTO, so please quit with the bitchin' mkay?! Most guys and gals I know with families take 2-3 times as long to build up enough vacation time for a 1-2 week vacation. Also, where I work no one is really qualified to do what I do (nef on ATOT...kidding), so my work would just pile up while I was away if I did have to pick my kid up.

 

[ATLien247]

Luckily, my wife is home during the day so she can take care of all of that. If for some reason she was unable to do so, I would have no problem leaving work to care for them. It helps that management has the "family first" philosophy here where I work...

 

[EagleKeeper]

Closest parent to the kid gets them and takes care of the child.

Place of employment is expected to understand.

When the parent gets back to work, they try to cleanup the backlog.
Or sometimes, I would take the work home with me.

 

[HN]

Originally posted by: LolaWiz
Sonovab!tch! :|
this is the 4th time in about two weeks that my coworker had to leave work to go get her sick girl from school.
It is so annoying because that leaves me here at the office by myself. I can handle it but it gets over-loading doing work for 3+ people.

Anyways, to those that have kids... what do you do if you are at your job and the school calls you? do you leave work too? do you have a babysitter/grandparent that can get them?
Is my place of work the "norm" when it comes to dealing with working parents and sick kids?

yup. that's a pretty f'ed up situation. they get to use their kids as an excuse (whether they're faking it or not). What would happen if you tried to say your dog or cat has an emergency and you have to leave? Why do the non-parents have to take on the extra load of the parents? :disgust:

 

[JeffreyLebowski]

Well with my job, I can go get them whenever I need to. My boss and company put family 1st, so as long as we don't abuse it we're fine. I've only had to do it once so far this year.

And you obviously don't have kids because kids come before anything else.

 

[child of wonder]

My wife and I take turns on who leaves work to pick up the kids from daycare if they get sick.

Now that I can VPN in to work, it's mostly going to be me getting them.

Unless the person has a history otherwise, that's sh1tty to assume they're just blowing off work. My kids seem to get sick often with diarrhea, GI problems, pink eye, etc. and I'd rather get fired from 1000 jobs than make work a priority over my kids. Unfortunately, we don't have family in the area to fall back on so we're stuck staying home with them ourselves.

 

[Lola]

Originally posted by: bonkers325
4th time in two weeks? is your coworker's daughter terminally ill or something? its probably an excuse to blow off work

grandparents ftw

no... it was the school calling. It came up on our caller ID.
She works part time too and still left.
I am just so annoyed because everyone in our very small office has kids except me, so i cannot ever use that excuse.

Whether she was lying before... i don't know.

 

[Golgatha]

Originally posted by: HN

Originally posted by: LolaWiz
Sonovab!tch! :|
this is the 4th time in about two weeks that my coworker had to leave work to go get her sick girl from school.
It is so annoying because that leaves me here at the office by myself. I can handle it but it gets over-loading doing work for 3+ people.

Anyways, to those that have kids... what do you do if you are at your job and the school calls you? do you leave work too? do you have a babysitter/grandparent that can get them?
Is my place of work the "norm" when it comes to dealing with working parents and sick kids?

yup. that's a pretty f'ed up situation. they get to use their kids as an excuse (whether they're faking it or not). What would happen if you tried to say your dog or cat has an emergency and you have to leave? Why do the non-parents have to take on the extra load of the parents? :disgust:

At least you're not taking 4days of PTO to take care of a sick child. Last I checked where I work, it takes about 1.5-2months to earn that much time off.

 

[Lola]

Originally posted by: JeffreyLebowski
Well with my job, I can go get them whenever I need to. My boss and company put family 1st, so as long as we don't abuse it we're fine. I've only had to do it once so far this year.

And you obviously don't have kids because kids come before anything else.

you are right, i do not have kids, and i do understand that children come first... it is just so annoying because i KNOW she could call her: mother, mother-in-law, sister, etc. but she didn't.

 

[slsmnaz]

Originally posted by: Golgatha
Call the wife and have her pick the boy up. Stay-at-home mom FTW .

Edit: In all seriousness the folks without kids enjoy many more enjoyable days of PTO, so please quit with the bitchin' mkay?! Most guys and gals I know with families take 2-3 times as long to build up enough vacation time for a 1-2 week vacation. Also, where I work no one is really qualified to do what I do (nef on ATOT...kidding), so my work would just pile up while I was away if I did have to pick my kid up.

Awww, we should all feel sorry for the people who have kids cause they have no fun? BS! It was a choice but you shouldn't be able to milk it while others don't have that luxury. THere are a couple around here that have to leave about once a week for this very reason and they don't seem to get docked sick/personal time. The only people who make me madder are those who stand outside smoking for 15 min of every hour.

 

[djheater]

Originally posted by: LolaWiz

Originally posted by: bonkers325
4th time in two weeks? is your coworker's daughter terminally ill or something? its probably an excuse to blow off work

grandparents ftw

no... it was the school calling. It came up on our caller ID.
She works part time too and still left.
I am just so annoyed because everyone in our very small office has kids except me, so i cannot ever use that excuse.

Whether she was lying before... i don't know.

Adopt. That'll teach 'em

There's really nothing else us parents CAN do.
Sounds like your job doesn't have procedures in place to deal with it, fix that, don't get upset at the parents.

 

[jdini76]

Originally posted by: LolaWiz
Sonovab!tch! :|
this is the 4th time in about two weeks that my coworker had to leave work to go get her sick girl from school.
It is so annoying because that leaves me here at the office by myself. I can handle it but it gets over-loading doing work for 3+ people.

Anyways, to those that have kids... what do you do if you are at your job and the school calls you? do you leave work too? do you have a babysitter/grandparent that can get them?
Is my place of work the "norm" when it comes to dealing with working parents and sick kids?

is taking these days to go home counting towards anything or are they free? If they are counting then you shouldn't be allowed to complain. It would be as if they called in sick. But if they are leaving, and doesn't count towards sick day or anything then yea you have a right to complain.

 

[child of wonder]

Originally posted by: LolaWiz

Originally posted by: JeffreyLebowski
Well with my job, I can go get them whenever I need to. My boss and company put family 1st, so as long as we don't abuse it we're fine. I've only had to do it once so far this year.

And you obviously don't have kids because kids come before anything else.

you are right, i do not have kids, and i do understand that children come first... it is just so annoying because i KNOW she could call her: mother, mother-in-law, sister, etc. but she didn't.

You know?

In my situation, my mother works full time so even if she lived in town I couldn't call her. My mother in law is an unemployed bum who sleeps until 3pm every day so she's of no help. My sister works full time and so does my brother in law.

Some of us have no choice but to stay home with the kids.

 

[Lola]

I do see both sides of the argument, and it is our choice we do not have kids, and i never say anything bad about those that do have little ones, i guess i am upset because i am the one that always take the extra load of everyone else that has kids here.

Our office is all women and it is a very laid-back family oriented place, which is nice...
I can leave if i need to as well, but not as often as those with kids.

I was curious to see what others do in situations like this. Plus, i am sure it is hard taking care of a sick child rather than spending your days off doing whatever.

I had to vent. thats all.
Most of the people we know all have kids so i very well cannot complain about stuff to them.

 

[EagleKeeper]

Originally posted by: LolaWiz

Originally posted by: JeffreyLebowski
Well with my job, I can go get them whenever I need to. My boss and company put family 1st, so as long as we don't abuse it we're fine. I've only had to do it once so far this year.

And you obviously don't have kids because kids come before anything else.

you are right, i do not have kids, and i do understand that children come first... it is just so annoying because i KNOW she could call her: mother, mother-in-law, sister, etc. but she didn't.

The children are her responsibility, not a relatives.

 

[rivan]

Originally posted by: LolaWiz

Originally posted by: JeffreyLebowski
Well with my job, I can go get them whenever I need to. My boss and company put family 1st, so as long as we don't abuse it we're fine. I've only had to do it once so far this year.

And you obviously don't have kids because kids come before anything else.

you are right, i do not have kids, and i do understand that children come first... it is just so annoying because i KNOW she could call her: mother, mother-in-law, sister, etc. but she didn't.

Just because you *can* call family to help out doesn't mean you should. How do you know she hasn't already dealt with it away from work that way or something? Maybe that's how she dealt with it last week? Family help - at least in my case - is a precious commodity that's not to be overused, or abused.

I understand your predicament, but I also understand hers. As craptastic as it is to be left a person short in the office, I can almost guarantee she feels bad about doing it, and honestly, I'd rather get dumped on than have my kid sick.

 

[Lola]

Originally posted by: EagleKeeper

Originally posted by: LolaWiz

Originally posted by: JeffreyLebowski
Well with my job, I can go get them whenever I need to. My boss and company put family 1st, so as long as we don't abuse it we're fine. I've only had to do it once so far this year.

And you obviously don't have kids because kids come before anything else.

you are right, i do not have kids, and i do understand that children come first... it is just so annoying because i KNOW she could call her: mother, mother-in-law, sister, etc. but she didn't.

The children are her responsibility, not a relatives.

You are right, but her husband is not even working yet he didn't want to get his little girl.
I know kids cannot choose when they get sick, but it is happening at least once a week this past month.

 

[rivan]

Originally posted by: LolaWiz

Originally posted by: EagleKeeper

Originally posted by: LolaWiz

Originally posted by: JeffreyLebowski
Well with my job, I can go get them whenever I need to. My boss and company put family 1st, so as long as we don't abuse it we're fine. I've only had to do it once so far this year.

And you obviously don't have kids because kids come before anything else.

you are right, i do not have kids, and i do understand that children come first... it is just so annoying because i KNOW she could call her: mother, mother-in-law, sister, etc. but she didn't.

The children are her responsibility, not a relatives.

You are right, but her husband is not even working yet he didn't want to get his little girl.
I know kids cannot choose when they get sick, but it is happening at least once a week this past month.

That's sometimes how it goes, though. Kid A gets sick, infects Kid B. Kid B passes the bug on. By the time Kid A gets over it and goes back to school, Kid F gives it right back to him/her.

 

[Garet Jax]

Originally posted by: LolaWiz
i KNOW she could call her: mother, mother-in-law, sister, etc. but she didn't.

Those are cards you play only in emergencies. Work isn't one of them.

 

[Golgatha]

Originally posted by: slsmnaz

Originally posted by: Golgatha
Call the wife and have her pick the boy up. Stay-at-home mom FTW .

Edit: In all seriousness the folks without kids enjoy many more enjoyable days of PTO, so please quit with the bitchin' mkay?! Most guys and gals I know with families take 2-3 times as long to build up enough vacation time for a 1-2 week vacation. Also, where I work no one is really qualified to do what I do (nef on ATOT...kidding), so my work would just pile up while I was away if I did have to pick my kid up.

Awww, we should all feel sorry for the people who have kids cause they have no fun? BS! It was a choice but you shouldn't be able to milk it while others don't have that luxury. THere are a couple around here that have to leave about once a week for this very reason and they don't seem to get docked sick/personal time. The only people who make me madder are those who stand outside smoking for 15 min of every hour.

Milk it?! Now if the employee doesn't get docked sick time/PTO/etc then I totally agree with you, but if they're using their earned vacation time to take care of a sick child at home, then I think the bitching from others in the office is a bit unjustified.

 

[Al Neri]

it's her kid. maybe there's something wrong with the kid, maybe she doesn't trust the grandparents. that's life, grin and bear it

 

[Lola]

Originally posted by: Garet Jax

Originally posted by: LolaWiz
i KNOW she could call her: mother, mother-in-law, sister, etc. but she didn't.

Those are cards you play only in emergencies. Work isn't one of them.

Well... just so you know, our boss is out of town. She has called one of the no problem before when our boss was here... now that she is out of town, she left.