Today I was wavering and waffling on whether to take my 10 year old to McDonald's even though she came home sick from school and my sister said something that keeps echoing in my head. She said "You are the parent and you make the decisions for your child." This statement applies to several situations today. Caroline has been struggling with a cold/cough over the past 5 days. She has not had a fever and went to school today with no problem. As I was dropping Amelia off at preschool at 9:15 (exactly 10 minutes after the elementary school started) my phone rang and the nurse was calling to tell me I needed to come pick Caroline up. Instead of questioning her I immediately saw her as an authority figure and rushed to the school. She told me that Caroline had a low grade fever and her teacher's thought she didn't look well so she needed to go home and rest. Then I sat in the school parking lot dialing the pediatrician over and over and finally getting through only to be told "honey I can't get you in with any of the Dr.'s until 6pm." Obviously that is unacceptable for a pediatricians office. Sick kids can't wait ALL day to be seen. In my case she wasn't all that sick but what if she had a high fever or was a sick baby? Anyway I should have gotten my point across about my irritation to the nurse but instead I just told her I was heading to Urgent Care.
At Urgent Care the Dr. swabbed Caroline for strep and checked her ears and took her temperature (and she did not have one) and it was decided she was just at the very end of a common virus and probably not even contagious anymore. This brings us to the McDonald's visit. I was already planning on taking Amelia to McDonald's to play with her cousins and have lunch after preschool. For some reason I had it in my head that taking Caroline to sit there and drink a milkshake was against the rules (not sure who's rules). I don't know if I thought that the lady mopping the floors was going to yell at me or maybe the elderly cashier would say something. Authority figures scare me but I have to get over that and be an advocate for my children. In most cases these people are being paid for a service and are hired by me. I have to stop being scared of disagreeing with opinions that aren't the same as mine. I know what is best for my children and can't be afraid to step forward and speak my mind.
2 comments:
amen! this post was was awesome. i feel that way a lot. This is something I still struggle with but have to remind myself that I too am now an authority figure! wow, i can totally relate.
i just need to put on my big girl panties and do what I want to do when i want to do it as well as speak my mind more often. i must say that i am getting better but still need to work on it!
I struggle with this too but trying to get better. I would of taken her she didn't have a fever.
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