A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The Banter Hall The thorn in my workday

I spent all day long cleaning out my closet and the drawers in my bedroom. For someone who never has anything to wear I have a lot of clothes and shoes.

I seem to have that same problem. I sometimes wish I had the strength fo get rid of all the clothes I have not worn in a long time. The closets & shoe racks are stuffed and yet I have "no clothes".

Tina, I envy your job. to do what you love AND get paid ?/ sounds good to me.

I bet you feel a bit more organized now, though.

Yes, Tina I bet Sheri Does.-


so sheri--did the day off of work do you good???

Tina, what kind of job do you have?

I had a great day off. Today I found more lice at school.

What do they get Lice from?

Never did know.

Head lice just travel from kid to kid, Barb. They can travel through borrowed hats, brushes, furniture and things. Or just kids working closely together with their heads together. They multiply better than rabbits.
Sheri, I do landscaping and landscape planning. I have scaled way back right now and just care for two homes and a business all belonging to friends of mine who have two more homes in Puerto Rico that they spend half their time at. They are building and remodeling there so they have been gone more than not the last couple of years. It is fun to be my own boss and love what I do. I hire out any of the heavy labor and oversee the work done. But I get to get my hands dirty too.

I hate to barge in here but Tina that sounds like a lot of fun.

It is a lot of fun if you are working with good people. I get a free hand here to do what I like within parameters (like no roses for these people). And in this instance the money is good. I did one of their houses first as a friend because their service wasn't working out. Then they started paying me to do it. They really couldn't find a gardener or service that they liked in their other home. I didn't want to work a couple towns away from mine but they talked me into it with an offer I couldn't refuse.

Gosh would that be a dream come true for me.
Sounds like right up my alley.

However too late......I am retired.
But you can sure tell us your stories of it all.. We will enjoy it much.

barb

yes, barb Is right--we love listening (or seeing photo's of) about your landscaping doings.

barb--- I will be going to work as soon as I am able, and I will be of retirement age here in 9 years or so..

You mean a nine year old kid can retire??????????

Gee are you calling me a KID, Barb?? I can take that :wink:

-- in 9 years I will be retirement age, barb--sorry if I was not clear.......

the problem with lice is that people just won't take care of the situation. Called a mom today, showed her the daughters hair, she looked at it, ran her fingers through it and said "I don't think that's it." I said, ok, then what do you think it is? She said she didn't know so I said then we have to treat it like lice and she can't stay in school.

It is a matter of education. Have you any literature to hand out about it all, Sheri? When schools send a child home, the parents ought to have something that tells them what is happening and what to do.
There were no lice around when I was a kid, we were bombarded with too much ddt back then, I guess.

I give a handout of what it is, how it's caught, how contagious it is, how to treat, how to comb the hair, how to bring them back to school, who checked the students head. We go over it section by section with the parent each time the child is sent home with lice. Evidentially they don't listen. Looking back in the communicable disease notebook I have found that many of the children with lice were sent home several times last year with lice. I've already sent home a few students more than once in the 4 months we've been at school. Parents of other students are figuring out who these repeaters are. One kindergartener has been sent home several times already and one parent told me that her daughter can no longer play with her. The child is lice free when she comes back to school but after a week or two there they are again. I know she spends the night with grandma and aunt Kathy but you would think that they would figure it out after a while. I guess the kids are telling their parents or possibly school staff are spreading the word because I'm not at liberty to tell anyone anything.

Yes, delousing needs to go on in the home as well as on the person. I read every word that comes home from school. Retention for dates is not a strong suit of mine though.

Wonder if they have it in the summer then?/////

I'm sure they do because they show up the first day of school with them. There were students who showed up with sores all over them the first day of school so I'm sure they lived with it at least part of the summer. The parents of many of these kids just don't pay them any attention or you'd notice sores all over. One little girl had sores all over her face. I called dad who showed up at the end of the day. I think I posted that the secretary blessed him out. That's why I get so mad at a few of these teachers. They'd rather send them to the health room than keep them in class. I was thinking this morning that I dread them being out of school for Christmas. No telling what they'll come back with.

I was at a conference today and I found out that other schools in Monroe, even though some of them have the same type student population or very close to the same as my school, don't have the problems my school does. There's no pulling students out of the bus line who have been fighting and bringing them to the office, causing them to miss the bus. They don't receive 5 or 6 accident reports a day due to accidents on the playground. They don't have kids punched out getting bloody noses everyday. So, now I realize it's a matter of control and supervision by the staff and principal. This school is out of control. Maybe the few teachers that are having problems don't feel their getting support from the principal.

It sounds like a problem somewhere within the school, Sheri. You haven't been there long enough to put your finger on the basic problem? The silver lining here would/could be that your job isn't boring?

Very true. Never boring and the students are usually sweet. They always want to hug me but with the lice situation lately I haven't been into that.

Hugs are just not encouraged in schools. Even in Ted's special Ed school they do a lot of hand shaking. I love kids spontaneous hugs but offer my hand too. I have been working on the proper greetings with Teddy for a long time. I wouldn't want to undo anyone else's hard work.
I wasn't being flip. I think that being a school nurse in a super healthy, rubber-lined safe school could be almost as boring as being a fireman between being called out for alarms.

There are actually 2 elementary school nurses in the eastern part of our county who don't have a lot to do. They are emailing us and each other all day because they're not busy. That is the affluent part of the county. When the students there get to the middle and high school they have many of the same problems as the students at my end of the county and those nurses are busy. The elementary students either are too afraid to come to the nurse or they don't know to come to the nurse at this age because you know some of them have issues. these parents don't send their children to school sick and do take them to the doctor. These nurses have never had to call DSS. I'm sure there are cases of abuse and certain types of neglect but it's usually not found out with these students until they are a little older.

PS At my school we hug the students all the time. Guess it hasn't been stopped here yet but I could see why it would be. Some of the schools here still open with prayer.

My problems with hugs and Teddy, he decided hugging was wonderful a few years ago. So he hugged everyone including total strangers in a grocery store or something. Well, that really isn't appropriate behavior so I started the don't hug thing. Close friends and family only. He takes a little longer to understand those concepts than normal children do. It is still a work in progress.

My grandson is sort of like that. He likes to kiss girls too. It's getting where it's not too cute. We keep hoping he'll outgrow it but if he keeps it up we'll have to put a stop to it. Isn't that sad.

Your grandson is still young enough to get by. Ted is 14 1/2. Not as cute. He will hug everyone but he loves hugging women the most. The better endowed, the closer he hugs. I try to keep my chuckles inward as much a possible.

I'm sorry that hugging isn't acceptable after a certain age. It should be.

I agree, Sheri. Hugging Teddy is super special to me. And most of his classmates are so sweet too. And I want to grab up nearly every preschooler I see and snuggle.
But it isn't socially acceptable for a bearded guy, total stranger, to walk up and hug you. And someday, Teddy might be that bearded guy. It could actually be dangerous for him. He could get shot or something. At the very least it could get him in trouble for sexual harassment in a workplace or something. Not that he would understand why he was in trouble. That concept is beyond his ken. I have to work on teaching him to get along in our world today for his own good. Sad as that might be.

I have decided to stop trying to do any paper work on Monday's. I've had student after student, and teacher after teacher in here today with symptoms that they've acquired since I was here last Thursday. I haven't been able to do anything but tell them I'm sorry they don't feel well and tell the teachers they need to decide if they want to see a doctor or not.

Have you something going around, Sheri? Flu or colds? Or is everyone just very happy to see you? Sometimes, just sharing with someone sympathetic is enough. I am glad you are not sitting around lonely and unwanted in a tiny closet office somewhere, tucked away out of sight.

In my many teacher assitant conversations today I found out that several of the ones who frequent my sick room for one reason or another are bi-polar. I thought they all had Munchausen syndrome but knowing they're bi-polar explains some of this needing to hang out in the health room. I don't think they can always afford their medication because assistants don't make much money around here. I have a friend who is bi-polar and when she has missed her medicine for a day or two she begins to think that she is sick or going to be sick. Maybe that's why they bring some of these students who are really not sick to see me. They feel they need to see a nurse so they bring a student as a front. They may not be able to afford the state insurance.

I sometimes wonder where the fine line is between dealing with life's everyday ups and down and bi-polar? My older son is manic/depressive and his swings are huge on occasion. He has needed to be institutionalized. And he has had some depression that I am surprised he lived through. Meds have helped keep him on an even keel once he was diagnosed and they sorted out which ones work best for him. But I really wonder after hearing the word bi-polar bandied about so easily.
I had an ENT get pretty offended at me a about 9-10 years ago. Ted had his first ear infection and the ENT wanted to put in tubes. I said I wanted to wait to see if this became a chronic problem before deciding that. I said it was such a popular and 'in' thing to do to your kids. Like tonsillectomies had been for many years before. The Dr. got very, very stiff and polite. I wasn't trying to offend. But Ted has never had another ear infection yet.

You're fortunate or should I say he's fortunate that you've been able to afford his medication. How old is your son? As I'm sure you know, one thing that often happens is he starts to feel better then thinks he doesn't need his medicine anymore.

One of these women who was telling me all the meds she's on has an 11 year old daughter, not at our school, who is anorexic. I agree with you about specialists nowadays. I think the consumer has caused them to be so worried about being sued that they go overboard.

I can't imagine what's going to happen to these students and teacher assistants when we're out of school for 21 days. This morning, straight off the bus, I've seen a student with an ear ache (that parents are aware of), a boy who somehow cut his leg and the blood hadn't even been washed off, an arm that was burned Thanksgiving day without any ointment or bandage applied, a little girl itching so badly she can't sit still and on and on. I'm beginning to wonder if the parents think this is a minute clinic or in some way connected to a doctors office or the hospital. The teacher assistants know better so I'm not sure why, except maybe for lack of money, they will be sick for 4 days then come to see me knowing I don't have any medicine. We started calling parents to pick up students at 7:18 today. The bell rings at 7:10. The boy with the bloody leg I just washed and badaged and have been trying to call mom. I'm going to tell her it's against the law to neglect her child and I may have to call DSS and report it. I don't want to get the student in trouble for coming to see me but I want to punch out that mom and since I can't do that maybe I can threaten her with DSS.

That is a sad state of affairs, Sheri. I think you are right to threaten DSS.
But I do like to hear about your workday and want to say thanks for sharing.
One morning I sent my little boy off happy and seemingly healthy on his bus. Not long after he arrived at school, he was crying and very feverish and a poor sight indeed. Flu in less than an hour? That was the case. I was swearing to the school nurse that there hadn't been a sign of it before school at all. Our morning was normal. She believed me because he was always in good shape. I am glad I am an at home mother and available most of the time for my kids and the school personnel if I am needed.
One day last year I took him to school like every day. It was a normal morning. But when we got there, he laid himself down in the middle of the classroom floor and wouldn't budge. Another sudden attack of the flu. I took him right home again. These are times when I wish he could communicate a little more clearly. So he could tell me he might have something coming on. But most of the time I am thankful that he doesn't whine, complain or fake illnesses.

one little girl was brought to the sick room at 11:20 by her teacher who said she was coughing uncontrollaby. I asked her to take her back to class until someone came to pick her up because I was seeing so many students today but she (the teacher) said she didn't want her in the class. I called her guardian who is her grandfather, who said "I'll be right there." At 2:00, after the bell had rung for the buses to load, her grandmother came into the office asking to pick her up. I had sent her back to class to get on the bus. And, the student did not cough once the entire time she was with me.

Ah, Sometimes a drink of water and just time to clear the throat is enough. Going into an air conditioned place is often enough to set me off on a coughing jag.

maybe they like being with the nurse?????????

She is nice.