Saturday, February 26, 2005

February is almost over and I'll remember it as the mumps month - the month when dozens of children were sent to school with mumps despite memos and announcements not to send a sick child to school. The most common "excuse" parents gave when they were called to the office was "She/He doesn't have mumps, she/he has a toothache." The second most common was "She/He was crying because she/he really wanted to come to school. I can't stand to see her/him cry." But my favorite of all was "He doesn't have mumps! His father punched him in the face last night, that's why his face is swollen."

Sunday, February 20, 2005

One of my students has lice. Due to this development, I have temporarily suspended naptime and hugs. I've talked to her father, and his initial reaction was ignorance, followed by surprise, then denial, and finally acceptance. His response went like "Lice? What is lice?" I explain what lice is. "Really? She has lice? I didn't know! No, she doesn't have lice!" I explain that she scratches her head constantly and complains about it being so itchy. "Ok, I'll buy her some medicine."

A week later I checked her hair and she still had lice. It seems the father didn't do anything. So I asked the school doctor to write a prescription and I handed it him.