Nutritionists don't know what they're talking about. Who is it that decided that we should eat all of our colours each day? Leafy greens, fruity reds, orange carrots...blah, blah, blah. Yeah, blah is exactly what I feel when I have just watched a child vomit that rainbow of colours onto my beige Berber carpet. There is no glowing hue of colour in either my disposition or the child's face for that matter. Puke is not pretty. The contents going in might have been well-intentioned but their inappropriate exit is not.
But how did we get here? How did we go from a seemingly healthy child at drop-off to a human projectile launcher a mere three hours later at snack time? And a better question yet is - why do children eat when they feel like a raging volcano has taken over their body? The eruption is sure to come.
Back to my question; how did we get here? Hmmmm.......well, I could probably count a thousand ways a child could go from healthy to vomiting in a three hour time frame but hey, you all know me by now. I'm going to talk about vomiting in relation to daycare and how it appears on my previously vomit-virgin carpet.
So, the child has vomited. You are left with the clean up that ultimately always results in your gag reflex doing its part. On top of the sudden queasiness that you feel you are also obligated to keep the crawling 12 month old from using it as a slippery slide while coaxing the vomiter to a more puke-patronizing area of the house. At the same time you are cursing yourself for not going out the night before to pick up more paper towels as you try to clean it all up with just two squares. Yeah, what the hell is that Bounty commercial talking about? This certainly is NOT a two square situation. Alas, you get the carpet to a state in which you no longer have to worry that the dog might view it as a tasty treat and you clean up the accused. Now it's time for the phone call.
Ah, the phone call. Don't you love those daycare moments when you actually have to use the emergency numbers provided? If you are a religious person you pray silently and with great fervour that the number is still correct, the extension provided works and the parent isn't in a meeting. As the ring continues to play in your ear you start to make deals with the almighty, "please God, let her pick- up. I promise I will not use your name in vain anymore when I think of words to describe daycare parents". And then......the click.....voicemail. Feeling helpless and defeated you leave a frantic message, hang up and start to dial the next parent's work number. Finally you get dad on the phone. He doesn't see the problem. "Hey", he says, "Just give him some Gravol and some ginger-ale and he'll be fine. It worked great last night".
Yet again, another situation we have all experienced. A child who was previously ill - vomited even - who was dropped off into your care that morning. The contract is very clear of course. There is no room for misinterpretation. But, here you are, vomiting child, father who refuses to come pick up and a voicemail still out in the abyss. And rest assured, now that dad knows he is sure to call mom and that damned call-display function now becomes your arch enemy.
Vomiting children should not be at daycare - period. There is not one exception to this rule. It is not the responsibility of a daycare provider to care for sick children. We operate well-child facilities. I do not have a degree in nursing nor do I intend to. Besides, who wants to be anywhere but home when they are expelling the contents of their stomach? Do parents stay at work when vomiting? Of course not. Why, oh, why do they think it should be any different for a child? Sick kids need Mommy and Daddy more than any other time. They need comfort and attention and their own things surrounding them. Why do parents not get this?
My biggest peeve with vomiting children is that in most cases the child had already thrown up at home. Of course, most parents have different terminology for vomit when it has happened within the 24 hour period that the contract clearly states the child can not attend. Parents call vomit many names, among them, spit-up, reflux and gagging. Wow, amazing isn't it? There must be something about daycare that brings on actual vomiting. What else am I to think? The child never does it at home. Must be something he ate while in my care. Yeeahhh....that's it.
What would I do in the above scenario? I would keep calling the parents. Well, to be honest, dad would have known better than to even open his mouth and tell me he wasn't coming to pick up the child. Parents in my care don't do these things. And, if he had I would have been very prone to put all the kids in my van, drive over to dad's workplace and hand him his son, vomit covered clothing and all. In fact, I have even encouraged other providers to do this in similar situations. As of yet, no one has ever met the challenge.
If children become ill in care I demand that parents pick up their child in a reasonable amount of time. And no, one hour is NOT reasonable. Kids do get sick on the spur of the moment. Even I can admit that. But, for those children who were knowingly dropped off after having vomited last night's dinner and breakfast that morning? Well, let's just say that today's vomit pick up will be their last. Did they think I was kidding when I went over that part of the contract?
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