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."