“I guess it’s possible” still has very judgemental undertones. So now you are just assuming that the majority of the parents who have to drop everything mid day to pick up sick kids have been dishonest about their kids’ symptoms since the morning??? Illnesses come on quickly and no one has a crystal ball to predict what’s going to happen in 3-4 hours and this is a particularly rough season for ALL parents. My oldest has been in daycare since she was 3 months old and is now 5 and in kindergarten. I’ve probably had to leave work over 30 times over this period of time. No one bats and eye at work or judges anyone who has to leave to get their kids midday because it’s thankfully universally accepted at our workplace. If anyone gave me “side eye” for this I would find a new job.

And also the whole “I’m keeping my kids home to protect the people who can’t afford a sick day” act is wearing on me. It’s one of those things that as a working mom in the healthcare field I’ve been hearing this for 3 years now but kids get sick, it sucks and is inconvenient whether you work or stay at home and we don’t need others to act like they are committing these grand acts of selflessness for the sake of us working parents. There are other ways to be supportive of working parents like voting for the right people or just being there in a nonjudgmental way for your working parents peers and friends. I could literally care less who keeps their kids home in the morning or not.