Editor’s note: Kara Alaimo is an associate professor of communication at Fairleigh Dickinson University. Her book “Over the Influence: Social Media Is Toxic for Women and Girls — And How We Can Take It Back” was published in 2024 by Alcove Press. Follow her on Instagram, Facebook and Bluesky.
CNN
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There have been three days over the past month that my two children have both gone to school. By the time one of them recovers from the latest virus they’ve brought home, the other one is sick again.
I know many of you are going through the same experience. Doctors saw more patients with flu-like symptoms during the week ending February 1 than at any time in the last 15 years, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
For parents working outside the home, having kids home sick is often a nightmare.
Many parents don’t have the option to work from home. That includes my husband, who is an emergency department doctor. He will often cover for colleagues when they ask him to switch shifts due to family emergencies. I try to say yes if we can make it work — even when it’s inconvenient for our family. That way, I hope they’ll do the same when our daughters are sick.
As a professor, I’m often able to work remotely. But it isn’t easy to do so while caring for a sick child. Since I expect to be in this situation again, I reached out to experts to learn what parents can do to take care of their sick kids and themselves while working from home.
Kids who are sick benefit from regular contact and reassurance from their parents, said Dr. Michael Glazier, chief medical officer at Bluebird Kids Health, a Florida-based pediatric practice. That’s hard to give them when parents must be in meetings or meet deadlines.
Under such circumstances, “it is very helpful for kids to be given a schedule and reminded of the times when meetings occur and when parents will be back to check in,” he said via email. “Often kids will also benefit from having a direct line of sight with their parents when their parents are at home but working.” That way, kids are reminded their parents are there for them.
Glazier also recommended giving kids “gentle activities that can preoccupy them and divert their attention away from their symptoms.” He suggested keeping a stash of new things on hand to pull out during sick days, such as Play-Doh, blocks and art activities.
To stay sane, it’s a good idea for parents to remind themselves that the situation is temporary, said Lauren Tetenbaum, a New York-based licensed clinical social worker who specializes in maternal mental health.
“Be gentle with yourself and accept that if today is a sick day for your kid, it likely won’t be your best day at work,” she said. “Health is truly the priority here, and if you wear yourself down trying to do everything at 100% and get sick yourself, you’ll have even more to worry about when it comes to balancing it all.”
We also have to ask for help, Tetenbaum said. “It’s really important to build a system of supportive adults who can step in as needed, even if your kid may be spreading germs. That adult can be a paid babysitter, a family member or a neighbor or friend who will do you a favor that you will one day return.”
Tetenbaum, who is a mom of two elementary school-age kids, said it’s important “not (to) assume that one parent is always the default caregiver.” In most families, that’s the mom. “Couples must explicitly communicate about who can do what on certain days, even if one parent usually has a more flexible schedule,” she said.
She also recommended that parents be compassionate with themselves. “You are doing your best,” she noted.
For me, it means sometimes allowing my daughters to consume extra media content, such as YouTube videos or online content from PBS Kids, while making sure it’s appropriate.
When kids return to school, Glazier said there are ways to try to prevent them from bringing the next virus home.
Keeping up to date with vaccinations is important, he said. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that all kids over age 6 months get the flu vaccine unless they have medical reasons not to do so.
Making sure kids get good nutrition and enough sleep and exercise can also help keep their immune systems healthy. “A strong healthy immune system will help both prevent and minimize the effects of infections,” he said.
He also suggested telling kids to wash their hands frequently, especially before they eat at school. They should wash for at least 20 seconds, he said, which is about how much time it takes to sing the “Happy Birthday” song twice.
If it’s not possible to do so at school before eating, they should use a hand sanitizer. (I stashed a small one in my daughter’s backpack.) A hand sanitizer can’t kill all germs, but it can help protect against many.
It’s also a good idea to send food to school that kids can eat with utensils, rather than with their hands, which could be full of germs, Glazier said. And he recommended telling kids not to share food with their friends. While hard to enforce, it’s another way to avoid the spread of germs.
When many classmates are sick, it’s also a good idea to have kids wash their hands and change their clothes when they come home from school, even before giving them hugs, Glazier said. Doing so can help prevent them from making their parents sick.
Taking care of a sick kid isn’t easy, especially when parents also have to work. But parents with the option to work remotely can be strategic about keeping our kids home when they’re sick and teaching them about hygiene for when they return to school.
