Are you sending your kids to school next month?

[anniemae]

Not in most cases. A lot of potential Covid symptoms are minor or fleeting. If you're negative, they typically tell you to self-isolate for a certain number of days and/or until symptoms abate.

Yes, covid symptoms can be minor or fleeting, but colds can linger, and the symptoms of a cold mimic covid. So if your child has a cough, they will not be able to be in school whether the cough is due to covid or not. Normally cold symptoms are not a big deal. But now, you can't send them back until you have a negative covid test, even if it's just a cold.

So now, parents with kids who have a cough, fever, sore throat etc. have to go get a mobile test. If its negative, you have to go back to the dr. for further testing, is it strep, flu, ear infection, random virus? It will be a lot of jumping through hoops to get them to return when in the pre-covid days your child was fine to be in school with minor cold-like symptoms. If they had an illness that required no medicine, they could simply recover at home for a few days and go back to school. Now they will need notes and negative tests for every minor ailment. Not a huge deal, just more of a pain in the neck. And lots of time off to go to medical visits.

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

The "good" thing about masks and social distancing and obsessive hand washing is that it should cut down on passing colds and other viruses around classrooms anyway.

 

[JM23457]

Yes, covid symptoms can be minor or fleeting, but colds can linger, and the symptoms of a cold mimic covid. So if your child has a cough, they will not be able to be in school whether the cough is due to covid or not. Normally cold symptoms are not a big deal. But now, you can't send them back until you have a negative covid test, even if it's just a cold.

So now, parents with kids who have a cough, fever, sore throat etc. have to go get a mobile test. If its negative, you have to go back to the dr. for further testing, is it strep, flu, ear infection, random virus? It will be a lot of jumping through hoops to get them to return when in the pre-covid days your child was fine to be in school with minor cold-like symptoms. If they had an illness that required no medicine, they could simply recover at home for a few days and go back to school. Now they will need notes and negative tests for every minor ailment. Not a huge deal, just more of a pain in the neck.

I agree, Covid is a huge pain. Things being more difficult is no reason to keep the schools closed, though. Education is critical and many students can only be properly educated at school.

Those who want to stay home can learn at home, but school needs to reopen for the benefit of those students who don't learn well at home & who are ready to return to school.

 

[SaintsManiac]

Just wondering. Are they full time jobs?

Yes

 

[Lilsia]

If you read on, you’ll see my opinion is not a popular one. It’s seen as sexist and entitled. I don’t intend it to be either of those things. I truly believe that in families where there are two adult partners, having one home can and should be prioritised. It would change the very fabric of our society. Single parent families would of course need access to daycare. Perhaps parents who are home, could be incentivised to do so.

And I know that different parts of the Country it is easier then others to live off of 1 income. Daycare is really expensive and it would have taken the majority of my income at the time so for us, it was actually saving money to stay at home. Being at home with my kids was harder then any job that I have ever done. I feel grateful that I was able to be a big part of their lives. I went their school functions and helped with their girl scout troop. We would spend summer days going to the zoo and doing other activities. We traveled as much as we could so that I could expose them to new and different places. I hated when they had to go back to school every fall. For me, it was worth any sacrifices that we made for that to happen. Not everyone feels that same way and I get that. Everyone needs to do what is best for themselves. But there is NOTHING wrong with having a parent stay home with their kids if possible.

 

[amylevan]

It isn't required, but districts will continue to provide busing. They know that without it, many students won't get to school. I've been through severe budget cuts where many staff were laid off, etc., but busing was untouched because without the buses, kids wouldn't get to school. It's a necessary service, just like providing meals to a percentage of kids is necessary.

Actually, in some states busing is legally required. NJ law requires transportation be provided for all K-8 students who live more than 2 miles from school and all 9-12 students who live 2.5 miles wway.

 

[JM23457]

Actually, in some states busing is legally required. NJ law requires transportation be provided for all K-8 students who live more than 2 miles from school and all 9-12 students who live 2.5 miles wway.

I meant federally required, as that is what the PP had referred to. It also isn't state mandated in many states, including mine.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Yes, I know sick and vacation/personal time is not the same however, when you have children and they are sick, sometimes you need to take a sick day. I inspect daycares and can't tell you how many of the directors say how many parents drop off their kids sick and how many drop their kids off to daycare when the parents have a holiday/day off. When you have children, they come first.

You're adjusting what your point is. You said: "I don't know any people who get NO sick days!"

People aren't even debating the point that at times parents drop kids off when they are sick so that's a moot point of yours. You framed your comment with "Many parents don't want to take one of their vacation or personal days to be home with their child. How many people get fired for taking a sick day. I don't know any people who get NO sick days!" Posters are just saying there are in fact people who don't get sick time and can have severe consequences for not being at work when they are supposed to. You can choose to believe that or not but not every parent is selfish as if they can't be bothered. I stand by my comment if you don't know anyone who has ever worked at a place that didn't have sick time you need to get to know more people

As to your question regarding full or part time when I worked at the insurance company it was a full time hourly job, my husband's company is a full time salary job, my retail was largely part time but there were numerous times over the years that I worked 40 hours in a week but the policy for actual paid time off at least back then was never at the lowly employee level it was more manager and above. Believe it or not it affects a wide variety of people with respects to sick time.

And that's not even bringing into the table the At-Will employment states. That's just talking about company policies.

There is flexibility that sometimes comes into play like my husband's company was way more flexible than my insurance company ever was. But you cannot apply flexibility to blanket statements because not everyone is able to have that.

 

[JM23457]

But there is NOTHING wrong with having a parent stay home with their kids if possible.

And NOTHING wrong with not staying home, either.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

If you read on, you’ll see my opinion is not a popular one. It’s seen as sexist and entitled. I don’t intend it to be either of those things. I truly believe that in families where there are two adult partners, having one home can and should be prioritised. It would change the very fabric of our society. Single parent families would of course need access to daycare. Perhaps parents who are home, could be incentivised to do so.

I would not have been the person that I am if I had had my mom or my father or my stepmother home 24/7 growing up. I had that experience for 2 years of my stepmom taking off work and I had the experience of in-home day care with parents working (my mom working 2 jobs when I was older).

I think there are pros and cons to a parent always being home. If you prioritized it that's awesome, if others don't that's also awesome which you're not saying it's not awesome just speaking towards the "should be" aspect of your comment when you're speaking about other people.

Maybe the benefit of hindsight is knowing what would and wouldn't have worked. Unfortunately you don't know that until you are older so some kids who didn't have a parent home all the time may have felt the best thing in the world would have been to and others who did have that may have felt that they would have done better to have not had that.

 

[LSUmiss]

To the many people on here who think schools should not open, do you all agree with disney opening and staying open during this pandemic? Many rides are indoors and you are breathing the air many people exhaled right before you. I see so many want schools closed. What about disney?

I just came back from wdw last week & I work for a school district. I am much more concerned about my safety at work than I was at wdw for various reasons.

 

[Lilsia]

And NOTHING wrong with not staying home, either.

Nobody said there was. But the person got absolutely blasted when they suggested having 1 parent stay home. No one is blasting those who work.

 

[JM23457]

Nobody said there was. But the person got absolutely blasted when they suggested having 1 parent stay home. No one is blasting those who work.

I didn't read that post so I'm unsure of the context, but a person suggesting to another that they should arrange to have one parent stay home is presumptuous and rude.

 

[CarolAnn856]

Nobody said there was. But the person got absolutely blasted when they suggested having 1 parent stay home. No one is blasting those who work.

I think she was blasted for coming across as if that is what everyone should do. I didn't get that from your post, and in fact my husband and I made many of the same choices you did, at least when our kids were younger. The other poster, however, did not seem to make room for parents who both want to work or even single parents, if I recall correctly. And that deserves blasting, imo.

 

[Lilsia]

I didn't read that post so I'm unsure of the context, but a person suggesting to another that they should arrange to have one parent stay home is presumptuous and rude.

Well that is not exactly how the post went. The situations was that it comes down to it being the parent's responsibility to take care of their child. IDK why anyone would argue with that.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Well that is not exactly how the post went. The situations was that it comes down to it being the parent's responsibility to take care of their child. IDK why anyone would argue with that.

"where there are two adult partners, having one home can and should be prioritised. It would change the very fabric of our society. Single parent families would of course need access to daycare. Perhaps parents who are home, could be incentivised to do so."

This is just their follow up response (so not going back far in the comments for their original post). I don't know about you but that for sure reads like what others should do. A person describing that they themselves prioritized to have one parent home isn't a big issue to other people at least not from what I had seen. But that was about what others should do.

*Apologies to the poster whose comments were talking about just trying to explain, at least part of where the responses are coming from.

 

[Lilsia]

I think she was blasted for coming across as if that is what everyone should do. I didn't get that from your post, and in fact my husband and I made many of the same choices you did, at least when our kids were younger. The other poster, however, did not seem to make room for parents who both want to work or even single parents, if I recall correctly. And that deserves blasting, imo.

I do believe that the posted that single parent's would need child care. That is a given. I do feel that everyone needs to do what is right for their family. My point was that I think many feel like they need to have both incomes to be able to survive. We are older now and have a greater income so we are in a nicer house then what we started, as it normally goes. But we see these young couples move into our neighborhood, before they have kids, and soon find out that they can't afford it once the kids come. They did not factor in the costs of daycare or one parent staying home. These are important things to run the numbers and figure out before hand. I always tell young couples to live off of one income because you never know what will happen.

 

[choirfarm]

Yes, covid symptoms can be minor or fleeting, but colds can linger, and the symptoms of a cold mimic covid. So if your child has a cough, they will not be able to be in school whether the cough is due to covid or not. Normally cold symptoms are not a big deal. But now, you can't send them back until you have a negative covid test, even if it's just a cold.

So now, parents with kids who have a cough, fever, sore throat etc. have to go get a mobile test. If its negative, you have to go back to the dr. for further testing, is it strep, flu, ear infection, random virus? It will be a lot of jumping through hoops to get them to return when in the pre-covid days your child was fine to be in school with minor cold-like symptoms. If they had an illness that required no medicine, they could simply recover at home for a few days and go back to school. Now they will need notes and negative tests for every minor ailment. Not a huge deal, just more of a pain in the neck.

Um, many, many places do not have that kind of testing available. If they do, it may be 8 days or more before they get their results back. So at school for a week...oh a cold, so out for 8 days. I'm back. Next month, allergies kick in...oops, out another 8 days. Learning is just going to be a mess.

 

[Lilsia]

"where there are two adult partners, having one home can and should be prioritised. It would change the very fabric of our society. Single parent families would of course need access to daycare. Perhaps parents who are home, could be incentivised to do so."

This is just their follow up response (so not going back far in the comments for their original post). I don't know about you but that for sure reads like what others should do. A person describing that they themselves prioritized to have one parent home isn't a big issue to other people at least not from what I had seen. But that was about what others should do.

*Apologies to the poster whose comments were talking about just trying to explain, at least part of where the responses are coming from.

I see it as their opinion. Just like you, or someone else has the opposite opinion. Just because your's does not jive with their's does not make their opinion invalid. Nothing wrong with disagreeing with someone, but to call them rude, is a personal attack. Their statement was their opinion and that is it.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I see it as their opinion. Just like you, or someone else has the opposite opinion. Just because your's does not jive with their's does not make their opinion invalid. Nothing wrong with disagreeing with someone, but to call them rude, is a personal attack. Their statement was their opinion and that is it.

Of course it's their opinion. We're talking about their opinion of what others should be doing.

Regardless the post that I responded to of yours was discussing why people were reacting the way they were as it pertained to what others should be doing rather than what they personally chose to do (well at least the others part was added). I think it goes without saying it was the person's opinion we were responding to

I won't speak to the rude/personal attack part because I don't want to put words in the poster's mouth on their wording.