One thing I have very little doubt about is my parenting. I am the right Dad for these kids and they are the right children for me to raise. (some days and moments are obviously harder than others – make no mistake about that).

There is one day in particular that has stuck in my head for years. It’s come up a few times since as we have been the recipient of other people’s decisions. It is in super focus now as we are about to begin a school year (hopefully) with a pandemic going on.

I have forgotten a few of the finer details but it all boils down to – one day when E was about 3 years old, she had a fever. I forget if it was a small one the night before or just popped up the morning of but it went between a 99 and 101. (100 is the “stay away” temp for daycare attendance). Becky and I sent her to school in the morning and hoped she would make it through the day.

She did NOT. I think we got a call to get her before lunch and we had to pick her up and take her home for the day.

So in the grand scheme of things, not a big deal, right? Irresponsible of us…yes. I’ll admit it. What’s funny is that whatever work we thought was SO important and needed to get done that day…didn’t get done when we got the call that we had to pick her up. We could have gotten a teacher or another student sick with what she had and possibly effected their family. And we know our kid…she has never been a “get a quick fever and recover girl”. She is of the multi-day type.  Bad call on our part. And if I remember correctly – it wasn’t like I had a big deadline that day or Becky was in show dress rehearsals or something. And we both had enough PTO in our bank to blow a day. 

All that to say…man, what parenting shows you about the importance of work and everything else. I promise not to send my kid to school this upcoming school year with anything resembling a cold or even a behavior out of the ordinary. This year…one rash decision could be devastating.