Galion City Health DepartmentPhone: 419-468-1075

Sick-Day Savvy...What do you do when your 'baby' is sick?

It's 4:30 a.m. Your little one boohoos at your bedside that he's hot. You take his temperature; he has a 102-degree fever. You look at your spouse and wonder, who's going to stay home with him?

All children get sick. In fact, each day more than 350,000 children are too sick to attend school or childcare, and their working parents must make other arrangements for them. Some parents, about 10%, are fortunate that grandma and grandpa live across town or a trusted neighbor is willing to "come to the rescue." Other parents, about 30%, take turns staying home. In most cases, slightly more than 50%, it's mom who stays home.

Make a sick-day plan. Take steps now to avoid panic later. Discuss sick-day plans early. Put them on paper. Revisit and update them as our needs, situation and circumstances change. Here are a few points to consider:

• Talk about your work flexibility.
• Sit down with your spouse and start an outline of your work schedules, obligations and deadlines.
• Know how much time off each of you have and if it's paid.
• Talk about your career goals and work climate/culture.
• Is one of your work places more supportive of its employees achieving work-life balance.
• Can either of you trade shifts with another employee?
• Can you make up the hours over lunch, by going in early / leaving later, or by working on the weekend?
• Can you bring work home?
• For some working parents, one spouse's job is more flexible or less demanding and they take on most of the sick-day responsibilities.

Once you've made some plans, discuss them with your bosses. Explain you're planning ahead. Propose your plans as solutions, instead of ultimatums, and seek their support.

Share the responsibility. Now that you know what your options are, you both know what is and isn't possible. Given your situation, you may decide to rotate the responsibilities, no matter what. Perhaps you decide who stays home based on what's going on at work that day or week. Splitting the day - mom stays home in the morning and dad comes home for the afternoon - may be another option.

Focus on the positive. Regardless of who stays home, cherish this time . . . while not the most pleasant of circumstances, remember that it isn't your child's fault they're sick. Focus on using this time to reconnect with them - cuddle, read, listen, share and comfort.

ALL working parents need to have a plan in place to handle sick days, if not for your own peace of mind, then for your kid's sake - they're already feeling badly, and don't need the added stress of feeling like they're causing their parents to "melt-down" or argue.