Do You Say Something?

[Springvalley]

Springvalley I am not sure why the strawberries were that important. Pink eye or not, she insisted on the parent taking the child out of the house when ill or that the parent finds an alternative person to do it for her.

We talk about our clients having backup plans, shouldn't we have the same thing, a backup plan?

I do not know about everyone else but my illness policy stresses that it is in the child's best interest to rest at home.

I totally agree with you Alwaysgreener we always tell our parents that if their kid is sick to keep them at home and they can return when they are well. I also think that's part of the reason that our children's admission forms have a space on the back to put people as an approved pick up list but could also serve as a backup if needed

[e.j.]

That's funny - and the best part was you didn't have to worry about making sure all the pieces were sent home! lol

[littlefriends]

Mom still lives with her parents who both work from home. No sick child was put in harm’s way. ☺️

[Blackcat31]

Unless the child stayed and played with "your" child, there would be no real risk of exposure. Plus we all know that when one kids gets sick almost all the others do as well.
Having a parent drop off something wouldn't be a big deal to me at all since it was more than likely in/out or a quick hand off at the doorway.

I agree with resting at home if the child was seriously ill but pink eye is such a mild thing that it causes discomfort for the child verses needing to rest more than anything. Most schools don't exclude for it because school aged kids can manage it on their own whereas I exclude for it because my DCK are under 5 and still put things in their mouths etc....

My illness policy and my reasons for exclusion are more to do with the need for extra care and supervision, sanitary/cleaning issues and the continuous cycle of illness and not so much about spread since most illnesses are contagious long before the ill person is exposed so most kids have been exposed to an illness long before a sick kid needs to staay home or is excluded.

[Alwaysgreener]

Springvalley I am not sure why the strawberries were that important. Pink eye or not, she insisted on the parent taking the child out of the house when ill or that the parent finds an alternative person to do it for her.

We talk about our clients having backup plans, shouldn't we have the same thing, a backup plan?

I do not know about everyone else but my illness policy stresses that it is in the child's best interest to rest at home.

[Sahm121]

If you want to continue having holiday celebrations with parents donating, I'd go with what others have suggested and set the deadline to bring things in a day or two ahead of the day you actually want to hold the party. That way you know you have what you need or you can get out to buy it if you need to before the big day. I stopped asking for parent contributions because I found I couldn't be sure everyone would do their part. Some parents were very reliable; others not so much.

Now I plan more low-key celebrations - crafts and activities with the holiday theme and I buy a special treat for snack time, but I provide them myself. For Halloween, I tell the parents they can choose to bring the kids in costume or not. I got tired of having to worry about costumes going home in the condition they came in. I understood parents who worried that the costume would be trashed before Halloween night. They wanted the kids to look cute for their grandparents that night and for when they went trick-or-treating but it was too much stress. I've enjoyed the holidays a lot more since I started doing it the way I do know. I give you credit for making it so much fun for your kids, though!

I sent everyone a deadline for the holiday things, except thanksgiving because they’ll bring it the day of. These two families will bring their things the day before because both signed up for things that won’t be refrigerated. One of them today told me to make sure I don’t lose any of the Halloween costume pieces and then had a look of horror when they realized they left the pieces at home 😂!

[Sahm121]

I have really great parents right now, who truly go over and above. I do have to say….I can’t imagine being upset about parents not bringing me a candy bar, though. It’s nice when they think of us, but I’m definitely not counting on candy bars from each parent.

I think it depends on location/community. I have always sent treats for my kids teachers and I’ve always gotten treats. It’s always something small (a coloring page or note from the child, a snack size bar, etc.). It’s not that I was upset, but more so disappointed because it was lots of little things that one family agreed to do, yet didn’t do.

[GirlMomma]

I’m sure the transaction of the strawberries was done without the sick child going anywhere near the others.

[Rockgirl]

I have really great parents right now, who truly go over and above. I do have to say….I can’t imagine being upset about parents not bringing me a candy bar, though. It’s nice when they think of us, but I’m definitely not counting on candy bars from each parent.

[Springvalley]

I do a sign up sheet. One of my dc parents signed up to bring strawberries. Fri am (day of party) she texts that dcg has pink eye and won’t be there. She ended the text “we’ll see you Monday”. I texted back that we still needed the strawberries and could she please be sure to have them dropped off no later than 9:30. She did so and I was glad it didn’t need to go any further but I wanted her to understand she signed up to bring that and so we needed it here!

If I were another parent & I found out you texted said parent of sick kid requesting an item for the party and said parent showed up knowing kid was sick, I would've been ticked because if kid showed up & my kid was around kid and then ended up sick i would've been even more ticked because to me thats totally disrespectful!!

[littlefriends]

I do a sign up sheet. One of my dc parents signed up to bring strawberries. Fri am (day of party) she texts that dcg has pink eye and won’t be there. She ended the text “we’ll see you Monday”. I texted back that we still needed the strawberries and could she please be sure to have them dropped off no later than 9:30. She did so and I was glad it didn’t need to go any further but I wanted her to understand she signed up to bring that and so we needed it here!

[littlefriends]

Like BC said, don’t let them participate if they signed up and didn’t follow through. Call for pick up or turn them away at the door. A lot of parents just don’t care all that much until you MAKE them care.

[e.j.]

If you want to continue having holiday celebrations with parents donating, I'd go with what others have suggested and set the deadline to bring things in a day or two ahead of the day you actually want to hold the party. That way you know you have what you need or you can get out to buy it if you need to before the big day. I stopped asking for parent contributions because I found I couldn't be sure everyone would do their part. Some parents were very reliable; others not so much.

Now I plan more low-key celebrations - crafts and activities with the holiday theme and I buy a special treat for snack time, but I provide them myself. For Halloween, I tell the parents they can choose to bring the kids in costume or not. I got tired of having to worry about costumes going home in the condition they came in. I understood parents who worried that the costume would be trashed before Halloween night. They wanted the kids to look cute for their grandparents that night and for when they went trick-or-treating but it was too much stress. I've enjoyed the holidays a lot more since I started doing it the way I do know. I give you credit for making it so much fun for your kids, though!

[QueenBee]

I would have been very upset about this too. I would tell them about the disappointment to the children and the inconvenience to you they caused by not doing what they signed up to do.

[Sahm121]

Because of this experience that I too have had in the past, I don't depend on parents for such things anymore. Instead, I charge them an annual activity/enrichment fee which is used to purchase items for celebrations and activities.

So for Halloween, I purchase the treats and items for gift bags myself which they've already paid for. Costume is optional, and children w/o a costume can select something from the dress up stash in the dramatic area.

thanks. I am debating charging an activity/enrichment fee next year. It just makes me sad because it caught me so off guard that i couldn’t fix it, but even then, it wasn’t my issue to fix and that just made me sad for the child,