Who takes the day off when the kids are sick?

Krista - posted on 03/11/2011

My husband and I have no problem getting paid sick days, but it was usually me. I get 20 sick days a year (for myself) plus a few sick days (not even sure how many) for children, and they carry over from one year to the next. The only pain in the ass is waking up at 5 AM to do sub plans, especially if I'm sick too! On days that I just can't miss work (some special event at school or something), Derrick doesn't have a problem staying home, but he usually gets a ton of phone calls from work (he's a manager) and is really behind when he goes back. We're also lucky to have my mom in town, so she can often watch our son too.

Rosie - posted on 03/11/2011

when we were working at the same time instead of opposite of each other it was usually me. i got paid less. sometimes it was him though because he got paid sick days. he only has 5 of them so we had to leave some for him as well.

Becky - posted on 03/11/2011

If I was working, it would be me. My husband works as a sub-contractor, so he doesn't get any paid sick days. Whereas, I got 10 sick days + 10 personal days, plus 4 weeks of holidays, plus I could flex my work week if I wanted to - work 4 10 hour days instead of 5 8's, etc. So it would make much more sense for me to stay home, since I'd be getting paid for it.

Laura - posted on 03/11/2011

When I was working in was me. I worked in retail and my hubby is an engineer. He makes a lot more money than I did. And he gets paid a percentage of what he bills out so if he doesn't work he doesn't get paid as much. Plus he doesn't handle sick kids very well. :) I had no problem with it anyway I hated my job that's why I quit and am now a SAHM

Johnny - posted on 03/11/2011

Right now, if it is on my work days, my husband takes the time off because I do not get any sick days as a part-time worker. When I go back full-time and get my sick days and vacation days back, we'll probably just split it. My husband gets way more sick days and family responsibility days than I do though. So if it went on for a while, he'd be taking on most of it.

Carolyn - posted on 03/11/2011

When I go back to work in June, i will be the one taking the time off work if the kids are sick.

We dont have a set amount of sick days but more of an attendance management program. The average of sick days taken by all employes of the hospital are tallied every quarter. If you are consistently above the average of sick time per quarter, you get a warning, then after that it is step one, up to 6. 6 is supposed to be termination but legally they cant really get away with that either, so its more of a scare tactic.

We also get 10 personal unpaid days if needed.

I have a 4 weeks vacation as well, where as my husband gets 2 weeks unpaid ( but does get vacation pay on his pay checks) His sick days are also unpaid and his employers are the type to demand a note from a doctor for more than one day off and refuse your return to work.

So financially it just makes more sense for me to call in, i only work 7 out of 14 days working 12 hour shifts, which is handy because im not working 5 consecutive days.

we will see how it goes :)

Sarah - posted on 03/11/2011

I'm the one who calls in sick if the kids are ill.....always, without exception.
Partly because his work needs him there more than my job needs me, partly because I can usually go in the evening and make up my hours anyway and partly......just because my husband would never even think to suggest that he should be the one to stay home (and neither would I really)

Even if the kids AND me are sick, he wouldn't take the day off. I think I'd have to be on deaths door before he caved in and stayed home!!

He's not the type to miss a days work unless its a life or death kind of thing, lol. Plus, I quite like getting the odd day off work to lie on the couch and cuddle the girls playing nurse! (so long as there's no vomit!!!! hahaha)

Jodi - posted on 03/11/2011

"My husband DID stay home with him one day last week, though, when he had a bad bronchial infection, just because he felt that it wasn't fair that it always had to be me."

That is so sweet Krista!!!
I know what you mean by not earning money if you take time off. Hubby runs our other business, and when he takes time off, we have to pay a staff member to take his shift.....at $18 an hour (depending on the day), that's kind of an expensive sick day. But he still does it sometimes.

Jenn - posted on 03/11/2011

If I was working, it would depend on the type of job and/or who makes more money. It would make more sense for the one who makes less to take the day off, although you could have a job that makes it harder to get time off, so in that case then the other one would take the day off.

Krista - posted on 03/11/2011

If all things are equal, though, they should share that responsibility. My sister's ex got as many sick days as her, and he would NEVER stay home with the kids when they were sick. Just flat-out refused. It always had to be her, which meant that she'd soon run out of sick days and would have to start dipping into her vacation days. (And then he'd bitch because she never had any vacation time to do family stuff -- you can understand why they're no longer together.)

Krista - posted on 03/11/2011

For the most part it's me. But there's a logical reason for it, though.

My husband's work is seasonal (well, technically...lately they've wound up working year-round), so he doesn't get ANY paid sick days. So if he doesn't go to work, he doesn't get paid. And his work can't be done from home (he's a stonecutter).

I work for an organization that gives me 5 paid sick days, 5 paid personal days, and plus, due to the nature of my work (I'm a PR flack), I can work from home if needed.

So when Samburger is sick, it's pretty obvious who's going to stay home with him. My husband DID stay home with him one day last week, though, when he had a bad bronchial infection, just because he felt that it wasn't fair that it always had to be me.

Jodi - posted on 03/11/2011

In my situation, I work from home, so if the kids are sick, I take care of them, because I can do this and juggle work too. However, my husband will try to come home early from work so that I can go and get a nap if I need to (if it was a rough night the night before). Or he comes home early to help me get other things done, etc.