Top Things Daycare Moms Dread The Most

1. The Thermometer Mambo. Speaking of The Germy Kid, his outbreaks of mucus- and fever-inducing bacteria lead many mamas to do what I call the Thermometer Mambo. 100.1 is the most dreaded number for daycare moms. That is the number that means your kid is being sent home and has to stay there for at least 24 hours. This is fine, of course, if your kid is actually sick. I love me nothing more than rocking a sick baby in my arms while I catch up on my TiVo in my jammies. But most of the time it is just teething/a cold/malaria/your child trying to sap your will to live. Every time The Quiet Contemplator got a tooth, her fever would be EXACTLY 100.1. I am not even kidding. I spent about 50 sicks days with her at home, happy as a clam before I had to be “that mom” and break out my friend Mr. Tylenol to get her below the magic number. But many times, they really are sick, and that is when you get The Call.

We've totally done this. More times than I care to admit. Fevers are the most dreaded of all.

2. The Call. The Call is what you get when you have lost the battle with Thermometer Mambo, or worse. Every mommy dreads seeing their daycare’s number come up on their caller ID. It is never them calling to let you know that your kid is a ray of sunshine and puppy dogs and that they just wanted you to know how much they love having them. It is daycare calling to let you know that the projectile vomiting has commenced or that your kid is on the way to get stitches. I usually answer this call in some sort of, “What now?” fashion.

I swear the little guy and I have been consistently sick on alternating weeks since I went back to work. It definitely made for a long winter. I'd be calling off one week because he was sick and the next because I was. I'd really rather not go through that again.

You can read the rest of this list on Scary Mommy. When you're finished, leave us a comment and share what you dread most as a daycare mom.