Poor Thing

I should have known something was wrong when I got up Sunday morning and noticed Gabi hadn't eaten anything. She is such a morning snacker. She normally gets out the cereal and munches on it till I get up and fix breakfast. She mentioned her stomache was hurting and she didn't seem interested in eating breakfast but I figured she was just hungry and fixed her pancakes. She barely picked at them and she didn't keep them down. Poor thing couldn't keep a thing down so I finally decided to take her to the ER. They did some blood work and gave her fluids by an IV. The nurses were so impressed with her. They asked if I thought it was going to be a problem drawing blood and I told them no. Gabi sat and watched the entire time and didn't even flinch. Poor thing was so dehydrated they had an awful time trying to get a vein and they poked her several times before finally switching arms. She is such a brave girl. They told us it was just a stomache virus and finally sent us home. Poor thing is no better today. Although she has kept down 2 pieces of toast now she has spiked a fever and has diarraeah. I feel so bad for her. This is probably the sickest she has ever been. She has practically gone through a closet of clothes the past 2 days and I can hardly keep up with the laundry! As a teacher I know the importance of attendance and get frustrated when kids miss so many days of school. I feel bad because Gabi has missed so much school this year but we only keep her home when absolutely necessary. It has made me realize that punishing kids for excessive absences isn't necessarily the best thing. We have a new program in place at the high school that allows students to have an "open lunch" based on attendance and grades. Many of my honor students have lost privileges at one time or another throughout the year due to attendance. To be honest we may be making the situation worse. By issuing stricter attendance policies students are coming to school still sick and contagious and infecting more students. Something to ponder!