Frog Flu

2nd October 2017

Confession: I have been a bit Nurse Ratchet this week. Like fish and house-guests, my sympathy runs out a bit after three days. Dragging children in the morning up four flights of stairs is no fun.

I have specific criteria for missing school. With a theatrical daughter I have had to develop this. Sometimes this backfires of course. Once Keith and I held a very hard line on vegetable eating at the dinner table, doing the Smug Married wink at each other (boundaries, darling, I am so glad we are on the same page) as Ivy wept. Then she threw up onto her plate.

So, my criteria are as follows: temperature. Green snot. Recent diarrhoea. Croup. If you ‘feel sick’ generally but do not fall into my categories, then, off to school you go. If a sickness is outside the categories I have to be very quick to make the decision myself ‘Don’t get up! You’re stying home with Mum today!’ so as not to allow any theatrics that could make the child feel that they have won the toss.

It’s quite the complex field of battle.