I’ve written about sharing sick days equally. The easiest way to do this is not have many! Our top tips:
- Our GP said a multivitamin can help fortify kids when starting school or changing to a new room or cohort. We used Pentavite.
- Apparently breastfeeding can also help? We didn’t do this – as you know I think pumping is a grind and too much to juggle with work.
- We found a long-hours, walk-in medical clinic near home. If Buddy is sent home from school or told he can’t return without a medical certificate, we will stop there on the way home. 6pm prescriptions and 7am medical certificates can reduce time off school/ work by a whole day. E.g. if Buddy got conjunctivitis on a Monday, starting antibiotics that night can get him a medical clearance on Wednesday morning – only one day of school missed. If we waited until 9am Tuesday to see our usual GP, we wouldn’t get clearance until 9am Thursday – a whole extra day of care, juggling and itchy eyes. Somebody call Tim Ferriss, this is a serious life hack.
- What we haven’t nailed: backup care. We’ll have to look into this when work travel starts up again. We don’t have family in Sydney, so maybe a nanny agency?
Example schedule of the medical clinic dash:
4.45pm – Pick up kid.
5pm – Go straight to the clinic. If necessary, have dinner in the waiting room. Lower your standards, dinner can be a muesli bar.
6pm – Go to the pharmacy. Hit kid with those antibiotics / eye drops / cough elixirs.
7pm – Put kid to bed.
7am – How is kid looking? Good? If yes, go straight to medical clinic.
7.30am – Get medical certificate. You’re free! If not: return the next day at 7am. EZPZ.