let's get these other piggies wiggling
A parent sent their child to school sick. This isn�t abnormal since most of my parents are single and if they stay home from work they also don�t get paid for that day. They have to work but at the same time they have a sick kid. I understand their plight and so as long as they�re not vomiting or causing another problem I let them sleep on the couch or participate in class.
Another problem with teaching the children from divorced homes is that the mornings after spending time with their non-custodial parents are long ones. They�re tired from the night before because, understandably, parents who don�t get to see their kids often want to spend a lot of time with them. I have to deal with the consequences of that.
One of the fifth graders came to school like that today. He was very fatigued and he didn�t feel well. He said that he was told to call home if he didn�t think he could make it through the day. He promptly fell asleep at his desk. I picked him up and laid him down on the couch. I really thought he was just tired.
He�s a trouper; he�s been in our school since he was three (that�s eight years) and hasn�t missed a day yet. I woke him up for the spelling test and in the middle of it he got up to sharpen his pencil I was near the sharpener so I was there to catch him when he collapsed. I sent my runner down to tell the secretary to call an ambulance. I got someone to cover my class as I carried him down to the first floor. He asked me not to send him home because then he wouldn�t have perfect attendance. How sad is that?
Well, come to find out that not only did his parents know that he was sick and fatigued but they were pretty sure he had meningitis, he�s had it before and these are all the same symptoms.
Who sends their kid to school like that? I hope they�re wrong. I hope that isn�t his problem. My whole class and I could be dead by Friday.
That was my day, yours?
