I am a sleep.

Daycare worker: Hiiiiii.... (with pouty frown on her face)

Oh,oh. This can't be good.

Daycare worker: Well it seems that Baby has had a bit of a rough day. He's coughing, (what's new?) he's sneezing, (what's new?) and he had a fever of 102 (oh, that's new).

Me: Ok, but he seems fine now, at least. (thank god)

Daycare worker: Actually, his fever has come down and he has really perked up, but...(she pauses) just know that I hate to do this to you (another pause).....our policy states that a fever over 101 means Baby can't come to daycare for 24 hours. I'm really, really sorry. I know Baby has missed a lot of daycare these past few weeks.

Me: That's ok.(I smile weakly at her) I have lots of sick days. (I have 5 per year. And it's only January.)


So this whole sick day debacle and family time off has really got me riled up. I mean, for the most part (without regards to a year off for maternity leave) the workplace is really not designed for working moms (and dads). What the hell am I going to do with 5 (now 4) sick days per year, when Baby seems to average that in only a couple months time? OK, ok, so husband has a great job, with great benefits, and actual "family leave" in addition to his sick pay. But what about mom here? You know, the person who actually carried and birthed the wee one? Nothing. Nada. Zilch. What's up with that? (que SNL skit)

What can we do to make our jobs more family friendly? How can we convince the patriarchal policy makers at the top that a happy mom means a happy employee? Statistics have shown that working moms are more efficient and work harder after returning from maternity leave. This is in part to their huge effort to get all their work completed so they can spend more time at home. Hmmmm, makes sense. And yet, I still feel like I have to call in "sick" cough cough instead of telling my employer about my ill little boy. Something just doesn't seem right about this.

I've talked about this before. see: blog post about my rant and rave over inaccessible childcare. And now I feel like I really need to take action. Anyone care to join?