Sick or Not Sick? That is the Question!

You wake up in the morning and get yourself all ready to take your child to school, and then it happens... you hear the words "I don't feel good." Many things flash through your mind at this point like, is my child alright? what do I do about that appointment I have this morning? Who is calling in to work to stay home, me or their Dad (or Mom)? How do we handle this? Then, as you look into those cute little eyes that no longer look sad or teary and instead look excited at the idea of staying home with you, you ask yourself a different question... are they sick or just pretending?

As a mother of four I find this to be such an interesting question because there have been times that I have believed AND not believed my child when I later discovered that I was way off. On one hand, you want to coddle your child and take care of them, and on the other hand you do not want them to get positively rewarded for fibbing. This is actually quite the conundrum. As I said, I have made the mistake of believing AND not believing my children at various times, however, I came up with a few ways to weed out the truth.

1-NO SCREENS. This can be a painful one for you and your child, but it works. The less fun that your child has at home while they are sick, the less likely they are to try and trick you into letting them stay home.

2-NO ACTIVITIES/SPORTS. Another tough one for both child and parent, but once again, this works. The house rule we developed was that if you are too sick to go to school, then you should not be participating in your sport for the day. I always felt this was a fair one because if your child is excited about playing in that baseball game or soccer practice, they will not want to risk it, and if they really are sick, they probably shouldn't play anyway.

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3-LOVE & AFFECTION. Don't deprive your kids of this-even if you suspect they are faking it! Whatever you do, always let your child know that you love them.

4-OFFER THE MEDICINE OR REMEDY THAT TASTES THE WORST.(real or homeopathic.) This one is usually a good deterrent. I don't offer the good tasting medicine like Dimetapp, and instead offer the thick yucky unpleasant kind (if appropriate.) I know I have had a child or two respond with, "Actually Mom, I feel a little better. Can I just go to school?"

5-OFFER TO DO SOMETHING FUN WITH THEM THAT YOU KNOW THEY ENJOY (and wouldn't say no to) Sometimes it's the little things. You know your child, so if they are willing to forego something they enjoy, you know they are truly not feeling well.

Hopefully these ideas help you to become a good parental detective. There are a million issues that parents have to deal with, so if we all stick together and share our knowledge, it helps!