Any other moms leave for work before LO wakes up?

preissless1 · February 2012

This is kind of a preemptive consideration, since it hasn't happened...yet.

C normally sleeps from 8:30p - 7:30a. My goal time to leave the house is 6:45, but it's more like 7:00, but either way, I don't see C before I leave for work. The one time that C has been really sick where he needed to stay home from DC, he was feverish the night before and slept crappy, so we were up with him periodically through the night and knew that he was too sick to go to DC.

I know that sometimes kids go to bed fine, but wake up sick, so I'm wondering how I should handle this if I leave for work and he wakes up sick/feverish - that would stick DH with needing to take a sick day to care for C. DH has limited sick/vacation leave, and while I believe in sharing sick kid responsibilities, I don't want it to totally fall on him all the time.

Am I putting the cart before the horse?

umdbride · February 2012

my boss and his wife do 1/2 days each when their kids are sick - maybe that's something you can consider? DH would do the morning after finding LO sick, and you could come home around noon so DH could go to work for the afternoon.

This doesn't really work for us because of my commute though, it is hard to justify spending 1.5 hours in the car roundrip for a 1/2 day of work.

MrsPhilDunphy · February 2012

I leave for work before either C or DH are awake. Sometimes, when he seems sick I'll just go in late (I'm lucky to have plenty of leave and a flexible boss) to help with the morning routine and to see how he's doing. Mostly, I do this because my leave situation is better than DH's and as good a parent as DH is, I don't think he has the same kid sickness radar that I do.

This has only happened a handful of times, though, when things seemed really dicey the night before. I figure that the worst that can happen if C goes to DCP and really is sick is that she'll call me at work and one of us will have to go pick him up. We're also lucky that two days a week he goes to his grandparents, where he probably gets more sympathy and attention than he would at home anyway.

WinesNotWhines · February 2012

I wouldn't worry about that too much. I can't remember a time when M seemed perfectly healthy the night before, but he was too sick to go to school when he woke up in the morning. Usually there are either signs of illness the night before, or he seems perfectly fine in the morning and gets sick during the day while he's at school. I've been called a few times to pick him up in the afternoon due to a fever that wasn't there in the morning. In a worst-case scenario, your husband can call you and ask you to come home early, right?

tomandcourt · February 2012

umdbride:
my boss and his wife do 1/2 days each when their kids are sick - maybe that's something you can consider?

We do this a lot. One of us stays home in the morning, and then we switch off in the afternoon. Or, sometimes if we know he's not feeling well, we'll both telework but still split the day so one of us is taking care of J while the other is teleworking.

But, I think if you suspect C might not be feeling well, waiting until he gets up and seeing how he feels is a good idea. Like MPD, I don't think my DH has the same sick-kid radar that I do (nor the instincts one what to do if J is sick, like NoseFrida/Advil/whatever).

mssaint · February 2012

We are lucky that DH mostly works from home and has a very flexible schedule, but we split days for the most part when LO is sick. I will go to work in the morning and then come home and DH goes in the afternoon. That way I'm only taking 3-4 hours of leave and I'm keeping up with my work.

2vthokies · February 2012

We all usually leave at the same time in the morning, but one day a week I leave before the girls get up. Very rarely has one of the girls been sick without us having some sort of clue the night before. When they are sick, for the most part, we each do a half day. I usually go in in the morning and come home at lunch time. Usually LO is napping, so that buys me another hour or two of work. DH then works late (comes home after dinner), so we both usually get in 5-6 hours. We are both consultants, so working from home is not a difficult thing to do for a day or two. If we know that the LO is going to be out more than one day, then we will each do a full day. If it's more than two days, I usually do the bulk of staying home. Partially because I am part-time and partially because my sick-radar (or whatever pp were calling it) is just better than DHs (though he has gotten a lot better recently).

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