This week is giving me “lucky I broke my ankle and Eric had to request a LOA” vibes – because both kids ended up with the flu, and traditionally male jobs like my partners are not so keen to giving time off for to care for sick children.
When we look at the state of kids being sick, that care falls predominantly on women. And another season of poorly managed community illness is another season women are tossed back in their careers.
I’m angry that we didn’t get walk in flu clinics till mid December. I’m angry the number of times my kids flu vaccines were cancelled. I’m angry it wasn’t made a priority by myself – and I let myself get caught up in the excuses.
Because watching two kids with the flu sucked. Especially when sourcing children’s pain medication is a scavenger hunt. Thank goodness we didn’t need the amoxicillin prescription in the end. And It was moments of “do we go back to the er” and it was the reminder of the number of kids have died this year.
But as the primary care giver, arranging flu vaccines with the limited availability at limited pharmacies was inefficient for my family, and therefor kept getting brushed off.
I guess the people making these decisions don’t have kids. Which makes sense because how do you manage a career in with young children who come home with a new virus from daycare each week.
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