That dreaded sign on your child's daycare classroom door notifying you of the latest confirmed case of craziness to hit reared its ugly head for me YET AGAIN. The third time in one month alone I've seen. First it was lice, then strep, now pinkeye. My son managed to avoid lice, but unfortunately got pummeled with strep throat and pinkeye almost 1-2 days after the signs were posted. The previous month it was Hand, Foot, and Mouth (I was going to pass out if my son caught that) and an upper respiratory infection. I'm sick of this and although I know kids are going to get sick at school and daycare, but I can't help but wonder if these are signs that my daycare isn't very sanitary.
Evidence for the theory...
In addition to the multiple signs of confirmed illnesses:
1. The smell. It hits you in the face when you walk down the hall towards the classrooms. Urine. Emanating from the bathrooms. Sometimes you smell it only in the afternoon, but there are plenty of times when it's strong early in the morning as well.
2. A Critter Control van on site when I arrive...I'll let you draw your own conclusions about that (but there are no pets allowed on the premises).
Troubling still...
While my son was still out with pinkeye, the daycare called to ask when he'd be returning back. The administrator then casually told me, "Oh yeah, on that subject... Wanted to let you know it seems we've got a stomach bug going around. Okay, you have a good day!" I didn't know I could feel dejected and disgusted simultaneously - until then. So you mean to tell me that there's a chance my son will catch that as soon as he returns? She tried to answer in a way to comfort me, "You'll be happy to know that we are serious about this and are sanitizing the classroom tonight!" I couldn't find solace in that information because it was the first time I'd heard it since the beginning of the school year when we enrolled! That was the last bit that supported my theory of this daycare being downright nasty. Now I just don't know what to think. We waited months to get enrolled here because of the great academic curriculum they have. My toddler is thriving; family and friends are seeing the changes in his language skills, motor skills, literacy development and math development. I don't want to jump out of the pot into the fire, so to speak, and move him to another site that is just as bad and also lacks the academic components.
The Jury is Still Out...
There are arguments both for or against the theory that getting sick 2 times a month is atypical and something to be worried about. I for one feel that getting sniffles and a cough 2x a month is totally different than things like strep and pink eye floating around the classroom multiple times a month. But at this point, all I can do is wait and see. I've heard that once spring rolls around, the illness will follow winter out. Fingers crossed.
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