The Sick Day Protocol

Sick days are not medical events. They are logistics events with a temperature attached. The medical part is small. The logistics part is a full working day, and it starts before you are awake enough to make a decision.

This is not medical advice. Follow your clinician and your local health guidance for anything clinical. This is about everything else.

06:00 — make the decision early

The single worst version of a sick day is the one where nobody decides anything until 08:15.

At the first sign, check two things: the nursery or school's exclusion policy, and your own diary. Then pick one of three, out loud:

• Keep home. Symptoms match the exclusion list, or the child is clearly not themselves.
• Send and monitor. Mild, no fever, and the setting is fine with it. Tell the teacher, in one line.
• Call someone. If you are unsure whether this is a “watch it” or a “call the doctor”, call. That is what the number is for.

Deciding at 06:00 gives you four hours that would otherwise be spent in a state of low-grade dread.

06:10 — cancel early, cancel plainly

People forgive a cancellation. They do not forgive a no-show.

“Sorry, he's unwell, we're keeping him home today. Will rearrange.”

That is the whole message. No explanation, no apology paragraph, no medical detail. Send it before you have finished your coffee and it is off your list forever.

The meds log

The most dangerous moment of a sick day is the 14:00 handover, when two tired adults each believe the other one gave the dose.

One sheet of paper on the fridge. Three columns: time, dose, who. Pen attached. It takes four seconds per entry and prevents the one mistake you would actually feel bad about.

The handover

If two adults are involved, decide explicitly who is “on” and for which hours. Not “we'll both do it” — that is how two people end up exhausted and one person ends up resentful.

Write it down: morning shift, afternoon shift, who does dinner, who does bedtime. Ten seconds of admin saves an argument at 18:00.

The box

Keep one box, in one place, that does not get raided: thermometer, age-appropriate fever medicine, electrolyte sachets, a spare sheet, a towel, a phone charger, and one thing that is only for sick days.

The box is the difference between a bad day and a bad day spent searching four cupboards for a thermometer at 02:40.

What to lower

• Screens. Yes. Today is not the day for the screen policy. The policy resumes tomorrow.
• Food. Toast, fruit, water. Nobody needs a balanced plate on a sick day.
• Your own standards. The house will be a state. It will still be a state tomorrow. Rest today, tidy tomorrow.