Should I Stay Home With My Sick Kid?

[This post may contain affiliate links. This means I may receive a small commission when you click on and purchase something through my links. There is no extra cost to you and my opinions are 100% my own! Read more in my full disclosure for more information.]

I stayed home from church with my boy who has a cold. Yep, just a piddly cold. With relief I say that I no longer have to ask myself, “Should I stay home with my sick kid?” I know the answer the minute he gets sick.

But you see, for me and my boy, colds are a mess.

Not only do we have to deal with the snot and the coughing – we have to deal with puking.

My son has a very sensitive gag reflex so if one of his coughs gets stuck in his throat just the wrong way, he ends up puking.

Let me just say that I’d rather ruin my own carpeting and furniture than someone else’s!

Before I had a kid…

I was that person.

I didn’t want to miss anything so I’d attend functions unless I was on my death bed. My head would be burning up and my throat scratchy, but I’d go anyways.

During school, I never wanted to miss class and strived for perfect attendance. So I would go sick.

I was so selfish!

I would only think of myself and what I would miss out on. But I didn’t think about others who may be there with little children. I didn’t think about parents that would be there who had to stay healthy to take care of their children day in and day out.

Looking back, who knows how many other kids or teachers I shared my cold with because I was so stubborn.

Or shared it with children because I didn’t want to be seen as a “bad Christian” for staying home from church.

Read More: Quiet Church Activities for Toddlers

Really, if I would’ve just stayed home and rested off the fever I might have kicked the cold a day or two sooner.

And my Jesus will still love me for missing church!

Now that I’m a Parent

You can read my son’s birth story here. It comes in three parts so brace yourself for some long ramblings!

Being sick or having a sick kid now means I stay home if at all possible. Yep, that means we missed Thanksgiving dinner with family I haven’t seen in ages because my son had a cold…and of course, puking.

And that means we missed meeting my friend’s newborn because my son had a

cold.

I now understand the extra work, lack of sleep, long nights, crying, booger sucking and jars of chest rub that go into having just one sick child.

[My friend gave me the NoseFrida and it is so much more effective than the bulb!]

Let alone four, or six or 10 sick children!

Staying home from church protects the 30-some other children from my son’s cold. And snot. And puke.

The Eye Roll for Staying Home with My Sick Kid

That first Sunday last fall that I stayed home from church with my sick baby I got an eye roll and a smirk from a friend teasing about staying home for a little cold.

That was hard.

I wasn’t ready for that sock to the stomach for the decision I made for my child. But I had to get over it and shake it off.

Since that first time, it’s gotten much easier to say why we stayed home when others ask. In fact, I almost say it pridefully now (not that that’s appropriate either!).

Sometimes you just have to show up and not stay home.

If you are the main bread winner for your family, sick days are a luxury. A cold won’t be legit enough to stay home.

Unless you work in close contact with children or healthcare, you will probably have to suck it up and go to work.

I’m not talking about those situations. In those times, you just gotta do what you gotta do.

And sometimes it’s your kid’s last basketball game of the season or it’s their dance recital. So maybe you can stand in the back and not mingle among the crowds sharing your cooties with everyone.

That’s when you implement the knowledge you have like hand washing and covering your cough and push through. Mama Natural is a great resource for ways to boost your immune system, as well.

Read More: Natural Cold Remedies

Bolster yourself with things like echinacea and elderberry syrup. Buy it or learn from Heather at MommyPotamus how to make your own.

You Can Call Me Paranoid

Maybe you think I’m being a little extreme. That’s okay.

But let me say that staying home last winter for three months straight after the birth of my son was AMAZING.

Sure, my husband would take us on Sunday drives just to get out. [I couldn’t drive for a while because of having seizures.]

Read More: How I Made My Preemie’s NICU Stay More Natural

Staying home meant no sickness! And I loved it! My husband would bring home the sniffles sometimes from employees, but staying out of the public was crucial for keeping our preemie son healthy.

So, yes, I’m probably paranoid. If we have more kids and when they get older, things will change for us, I’m sure.

But right now, this is what I can do to look out for my son and look out for other little ones around us.

I encourage you, Mama, don’t feel bad for asking yourself, “Should I stay home with my sick kid?” You make the decisions for your family because you are the one nursing sick kiddos back to health.