Kate and school

I've shared before how Kate's been sick since she's gone to childcare. She was on medication for a solid two months (minus a day - the first day of school). When Jake was born, we couldn't afford for her to pass anything to zero-immune-system Jake and it was not a probability that she may be sick - she will definitely be. It also didn't help that the HFMD epidemic struck at about the same time & that was very worrying. The third thing that the husband said was "she needs a break from medication" - these factors made it quite easy for us to keep Kate home for the month of March. The plan was for her to rest, for Jake to have some immunity built up and we'll start the routine all over. It really worked because two days after she stayed home, she was as healthy as can be! Not a coincidence, this equation of school = sick.

Last week (after 4weeks of a healthy girl), we let Kate return to school. After the first day, she had a sniffly nose. Not that noticeable and when I raised it to the husband and Mother, they didn't seem to think it was a problem. After the second day, her symptoms became more pronounced and her temperature also crept up slightly. She didn't go back for the third day. Nor will she a fourth.

I'm not entirely sure if the decision is right, nor whether it's the best thing to do, but it's done. We have decided to pull Kate out of school. This school at least - while I have no issues nor complaints about the school's curriculum and teachers, the high hit rate of Kate being ill is too much to bear. Now, I have to find Kate a new childcare option. One that is preferably non-air conditioned since we think that the poor air ventilation in a wholly air-conditioned school is a major contributing factor to Kate falling ill. There really is no guarantee that Kate will not fall ill at a new place but before I jump the gun worrying about that, I'm pretty stressed about finding a vacancy in any other childcare.

I'm trying not to think about the monetary losses made in this school investment - uniforms, fees etc; but I guess there's no other way about it and there's really no point in me thinking about this. Sigh.

To end off, here's sharing Kate and her craft on the (her) last day of school. There was a parent session organised by the school which basically was parents joining their children at school to do some craft. The theme was family and we were given simple materials to create our own family.

Kate and I

Kate putting beads on the head (don't as me why - I was just happy that she was involved in some way!)

Kate and I with the finished product

Our family of four - Papa, Mommy, Kate and Jake

It's really painful to watch your child suffer and till today (4 days later), Kate's still unwell and she is on meds to manage the runny nose and cough (I'm so stressed that she will pass something to Jake). So in a way, I guess ending school with a session where I was involved in craft with Kate was quite a nice touch. I just wish it wasn't so darn difficult, really.