There are 3 of us in my office, I'm the only one without kids. I love my coworkers, but I deeply resent that multiple times a week they each have to leave early for doctor appointments, soccer practice, pick up from after-school activities, someone has a stomachache, etc. This leaves me handling phones/clients alone for the last 60-90 minutes of the day, and closing the office by myself. It's deeply unfair, but when I try to have a conversation about it, they say "but we have kids." You also have jobs! And husbands who should be bearing part of the burden! And this doesn't even include all the school holidays they have to take the day off for, and the actual holidays they think they should have first dibs at. If it was just taking off to care for sick kids, I'd have no issue.

What I don't understand is when I had to do my work and also the work of the absent parent, why I didn't get paid for both jobs. I'm really sorry you parents need to leave work all the time for your kids, but what I really want to know is why you couldn't plan for that before you had them. Like have a neighbor or parent on call to pick them up or bring them to appointments. Did you people seriously think you'd never need to pick your kids up from school? Why should YOUR kids' emergencies translate to extra work on my part?

It's not so much the "my kid is sick" when you're at work it's the "I have a kid so I have to have easter, christmas and every other damned holiday off". That and the "I gotta pick up my kid from school/daycare so I need to leave early"... every day. Emergencies are different, these are just poor planning.

When my son was eight, my brother gave him a snowboarding jacket with the reflective lining on the inside that keeps you warm in snow. My son loved it so much that he refused to take it off at school - he wouldn't even unzip it. But the thing is... My son doesn't sweat. So, later in the day, I got a call from the school saying that I needed to come get my child because he had a fever of 104°F. I got to the school, and realized the problem was the [very well insulated and highly effective] coat. Talked him into unzipping it and drinking some water, and within five minutes, his temperature was on its way back to normal. We discussed not cooking yourself because your coat is awesome. So yeah. Kids get fevers for random s**t, and the school calls you to let you know all about it.

Those of us in the office who have to assume the burden of your children do not thank you. We're already over-exploited enough without having co-workers who want us to "donate" our sick/pto days so you can live the life YOU'VE chosen while we go without. I like donating to charity, I like volunteering for things, I like helping out when I can. I don't like being pressured into covering for parents

That's why you shouldn't have kids.

yep. i have 2, and i dread the phone call from the daycare during the day, especially when you know they will call you. i dont want to leave work to go take care of my sick child... i have to, but i would rather they be healthy and i can stay at work.... people without kids who say things like that need a new job. work is a vacation away from hectic home.

Fully agree. I'm an assistant teacher at a preschool and we have to send kids home soooooo often. And I always feel so bad calling the parents and telling them they have to leave work to pick up their children ~ASAP~ because I know how precious time off is, and how slowly it's accrued, but, like, schools are very strict....

This reminds me of before I had kids and I used to hear my co-workers bragging about their kids. Every one if them was gifted, the smartest little genius their teacher had ever run across. I used to just shake my head and think, "You have no idea what you think you want." Then I had kids. I got the kids everyone else wanted. Couldn't motivate them, couldn't challenge them, teachers were scared of them because they could out think the adults. It was hell. They grew up, though.

It's a joke.

Yes! And "standard" kids like mine usually do not have to get picked up sick all the time. People complaining about coworkers leaving "all the time" are understanding sth wrong imo

I don't see any parents here who are acting affronted. It's the ones without kids who are throwing a fit. If I was at work and the school called to say my son has a fever and vomiting, you can bet your a*s I'm leaving to go take care of him. A child *should be* a parent's priority. If other people are feeling like they have to pick up the slack at work, that is hardly the parent's fault, but a fault of management. I can't believe all the people here complaining about parents who are actually responsible. You should be bitching about the s****y parents who end up raising sociopaths and narcissists.