Last week was rough. Michael has had mild allergies for a while with constant sniffles. It was a little annoying to him, but not enough for me to put him on medication. (I really dislike giving kids medicine unless it’s absolutely necessary. I rather let minor illnesses run their course.) However this recent ragweed season has been especially rough on him.
Michael had started coughing a little bit in addition to his runny nose. The cough got progressively worse to the point where it was disturbing his sleep at night. Last Monday, he came home and told me that one of his teachers (not his main teacher) had told him that he should stay home so that he wouldn’t get the rest of the kids sick. I was livid. For one thing, allergies aren’t contagious. I understood her concern though, because many parents do send their kids to school sick. However, he is five. She should have called me or my husband with any concerns. I kept him home on Tuesday (not because he was sick, but because he was extremely tired from being up most of the night coughing). On the way to school on Wednesday, it was really wet and rainy which caused his cough to worsen. For the sake of precaution, I went by the school nurse’s office to get her opinion. Although she dismissed what the other teacher had said about him staying home, she did encourage me to take Michael to his pediatrician to get some medical relief. She thought that he might need a nebulizer as well as medication.
Let me just say that I love Michael’s pediatrician. (If you live on the Upper West Side of Manhattan and need a pediatrician, let me know!) Although, we have moved over an hour away, I have kept her, because we have similar medical philosophies. We went to see her on Wednesday. After checking him out, she recommended that I give him Claritin at night and then have him suck on cough drops (Halls or Ludens are fine for 5 year olds…not Ricolah) during the day as needed. Fortunately, he didn’t need a nebulizer. I felt good with that diagnosis. Later that day, I got his medicine and for the first night in a couple of weeks, Michael slept well on Wednesday night.
I stopped by the nurse’s office on Thursday when I took Michael back to school. I wanted to give her the cough drops, BUT she refused to take them. It’s against school policy to administer cough drops to kids, because they are a choking hazard. Oy Vey! I mean, I could fight the issue, but it’s not even worth it. (I’m trying to pick my battles wisely/ to not be THAT mom.) Anyway, Michael came home on Thursday and told me that the same teacher from earlier in the week told him to go home again (?!) He said that he told her that he had gone to the doctor and that it was allergies, but she didn’t care. The end to the story…that very same teacher retired on Friday. Good!
