To keep DD off school?

[containsnuts]

For context school would have finished at 11.40 on the day in question (Scotland).

On this particular night, DD5 was tossing and turning, wimpering and coughing throughout the night which is usually a sign that she's starting tonsillitis which she gets a lot and quite severely. When I went to check on her at 5 am she was miserable, and asked for water and medicine which I gave her. No vomiting, no fever. She tossed and turned and coughed for another hour before falling asleep just before we would normally be getting up. I decided to let her doze a bit but when after an hour she was still in deep sleep, I made a judgemment call and messaged the school to say she wouldn't be in - probably the start of tonsillitis again. However, at 9.30 she woke up feeling perfectly fine and with no recollection of ever being unwell during the night. She's angry and upset that she's missing school. I felt it was too late now to take her. I thought it would be awkward and disruptive for the teacher if I took her halfway through the morning and an hour before finishing.

Ex DP had her that afternoon and thought I'd been massively unreasonable to keep her off that morning. She just had very mild 'sniffles' at that point and was fine at her club.

What would you have done that morning? Was I unreasonable to keep her off?

It was the right call. She had been up in the night and it's one thing being at home and playing after having a good sleep, quite another getting up and being at school expected to work etc. The very tired girl you got home after the club says a lot, she might not feel /be acting unwell but lack of sleep and probably fighting off a bug will be using up her energy x

It's fine to have let her sleep but it would also be fine to drop her into school when she feels better, especially if she is keen to go.

Kids are coming and going out of class all the time for small group learning, medical appts etc. It would not have been problematic for school to take her.

I would have done the same, and I am one of those parents who sends them in when they have a cold and are a bit sub par.

But if she's coughing all night then miserable and asking for medicine at 5am, there is no way I would haul her out of bed and send her to school a few hours later.

An easy one. Definitely would've done what you did.

It's the extra sleep that made her feel better.

I would have done the same even with my 7 year old. You can't say how she would have been at school, and generally most children (and adults) can feel fairly well in their own home when coming down with a cold but then feel rotten when at school (or work). You made the right call.

I would have done the same if my 17 year old had had that kind of a night!

I’m a reception teacher. I’d want a parent to keep their child off in this situation. Honestly it’s better to be safe and the amount of times I’ve been nurse instead of teacher because of poorly children is too high to count. If school was a full day I may have said take her in later but at that time no point. Waking her to take her earlier wouldn’t have been helpful because she’d have been exhausted and not learnt anything anyway!