So the dreaded influenza has been going around kindy, our friends, and our family, so it was really only a matter of time before my little germ vacuum sucked up enough lurgy to bring his immune system down. And down it came crashing. The worst was a 40 degree fever at it's peak, he was pretty much unconcious at that time, poor little fella. But after pumping him with meds and lots of cuddles, he was actually back to his rat bag self by the end of the scary fever day.
But this is not an update on the colour of my child's snot. It's a rant about Japan and it's love for little pieces of paper with little red stamps on them.
Ash got sick on Tuesday, and the Doc said 2 days after his fever had gone (Tuesday night) he was safe to go back to kindy. Nobody mentioned pieces of paper to me either. So we kept him at home on Tuesday, when I cancelled my classes, Wednesday, when I shuffled classes and switched between MIL, and Thursday, which is my quietest day and MIL was also home. We would have kept him home Friday, but every one of us had to work, me: 9am-8pm, MIL: 1pm-9pm, Dog-fucker (yes her once every two weeks job HAD to fall on the day I needed to use her): 9am-4pm. In desperate times we'd usually use BIL, but he's fucked off to Australia for a working holiday so that option was out too. The only one left was Grandma, who is still genki, but 85 this year, so not the ideal baby sitter. Ryota had called the kindy on Thursday morning and they hadn't mentioned anything about bits of fucking paper either so since Ash was within the safe bracket the Doc had told us, and we had no other option, I took Ash to kindy.
As soon as I got there I was ambushed at the door to see if I had the piece of paper saying that Ash wasn't going to infect every other rug rat who licked the same toy as him. I was instantly pissed, already late and just happened to get the most genki old lady teacher at the kindy, so it was hard to get angry at her. I told her that nobody could watch him today and all she could do was bow profusely and usher me further out the door, so I told her off for not telling Ryota we needed the fucking paper on the phone the day before and stormed out. Maybe everyone knows about the magical piece of paper, but this has taught me to just not tell the kindy next time Ash has an infectious disease.
So that led to the problem of how to get the paper signed before Monday when we would have the same problem. Friday was out for everyone, and I work Saturday, so I had to GASP! SHOCK HORROR! ask Ryota to take him to the Docs by themselves today. Honestly, it seems like a simple task, but Ryota is such a fucking drama queen when it comes to doing anything with Ash on his own it's ridiculous. And totally not worth the fuss he makes about it, I shit you not, he called me at least 4 times, "Where are his gloves??" "Where is the kindy bag??" "Should I take nappies??" "Can you come pick us up if he cries??"
Ummmm, fucking deal with it!!! Although I'm glad he took him, it wasn't as painful as he'd thought it was going to be, which may encourage him to do it more often...
So we have this fucking bit of paper, and if the kindy gives me shit on Monday, there will be blood spatters over someone's sickly pink kindy-teacher apron.
I'm taking Dog-fucker into Osaka tomorrow to the apple store to get her phone fixed tomorrow because she doesn't know where it is and is scared to go by herself, how the fuck does the foreign know more about this than she does?! I'm sure that it will take the whole day AND a fucking lunch, so lots of time for her to be racist/annoying/fuck a random passing dog/piss me off in general.
Poor little bugger
Fucking insanely hot
At the hospital, still holding his lizard... weirdo.
In genkier times
This is just insane! A paper that declares a child healthy? wtf. Around here just looking healthy is enough. I guess not telling the kindy next time is the best solution.
ReplyDeleteI don't recall ever being so sick. So I spared my mum at least this. ^^
I don't remember having fevers that high either, but I guess he is still 3, maybe he'll grow out of it...?
DeleteYes, keeping our mouths shut is definitely the best thing to do I think!
I bet he gets that weirdo lizard holding stuff from his mum.
ReplyDelete;)
Yep, influenza..I'm the only one at school who doesn't have it, and I don't wear a mask either.
;)
I think he does actually, I used to chew on my teddy bear's nose for comfort!
DeleteI haven't worn a mask and I've avoided it too, despite being coughed all over and sleeping with ash, maybe the masks are causing the damn epidemic?!
Mind-reading is a skill required for many situations in Japan. I'll never get the hang of it. The form at our hoikuen doesn't even require the doc to sign it or stamp it. Get this: You fill it out yourself! Call me dumb, but what exactly is the point of this paper if the doc doesn't vouch for you and say your child is healthy again?
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on the bargain of a house. That's just to good to be true.
That's crazy! Although I'll take crazy over actually having to get the bloody signature!
DeleteThe house is almost too good to be true, we'll probably regret it next earthquake, but who knows when or where that wil be!
I don't if that whole stamped-paper-from-the-doctor is standard but jeez, what a pain in the ass. And mentioning it to you would've been a helpful gesture on their part too. The daycare i work at doesn't require such stamped papers for kids to come back after they're sick, although we do have to obsessively take each kid's temp throughout the day, take note of what kind of shit they make (soft poo, normal poo, etc..), record every cough/sneeze, and other things i find to be pretty excessive..
ReplyDeleteHope they don't give you any more grief!
But, oh no.. it looks like Ash has been infected with the peace sign! I've been battling it too. *sigh*
Haha, yes, a mention was all I wanted!
DeleteOh you poor thing, I feel so bad for the teachers having to write all that crap down. I have to write what he has for breakfast, what his poo was like and his temp. I don't know if they've noticed that its exactly the same every day because I never bother, but nobody has told me off so far!
He passed out?! :0
ReplyDeleteThat must've been scary :((
Good thing he's better now!!!
I haven't been feeling so good this week either.
It was. :(
DeleteHope you're feeling better soon, get tamiflu, it's magic!
@-phx-
ReplyDeleteBut the peace sign is so cute! :-D
Glad your kid is fine. Having had my own go through a much milder fever I =sympathize. Japan and fucking paper... So much I could say that we all know already, but if it helps at all, imagine the filing cabinets falling over and crushing their bureaucratic heads in their stupid-badly organized offices, come the next quake.
ReplyDeleteHaha that does actually comfort me! You've got to wonder how the hell they store all the damn paper huh!?
DeleteYou ever seen city-hall offices? Or school offices? That kind of filing cabinet stacking would be a violation of the fire code in my native, geologically stable, Toronto, but to do it here... WTF?! There must be no rule that addresses it, therefore it is 'safe'. Bet there's no rule addressing hanging drawn swords over your desk, and that's 'safe' too. Japanese, try doing your own thinking!
DeleteAw those little red feverish cheeks, poor little mite.
ReplyDeleteSurely a childcare professional can see if a child is sick without the red stamp? And he probably picked it up at kinder anyway, and it will build his itty bitty immune system. And what's the point in paying for childcare if they refuse to take care of him when you really can't? Rubbish in general.
It's weird to sleep clutching a small plastic lizard? That's good to know.
Yup he was very poorly indeed. :(
DeleteAs I said, he was running around and past the infectious stage so it really was rubbish, but that's Japan sometimes.
Yes, for future reference, reptiles-bad. Soft cuddly and cute-good. ;)
@Michelle
ReplyDeleteI don't deny the cuteness! The cuteness is probably why it's such an epidemic. ;)
I can totally understand the childcare. Too many people in Japan would send their kids to school rather than miss a day at work to look after them. Annoying for you though.
ReplyDeleteSee you would think it would be that way but I don't think so. In Tokyo where more people work it might be, but around here the ratio of working mums to sahm whose kids go to preschool not daycare is about 1:5. This really isn't a problem for most families because the mum is usually at home. The thing that shits me is the unfair standard for families that do both work, the mother is pretty much always the one who has to take time off, they've never even bothered to call Ryota because they assume he won't come because he can't leave work, but they don't give the mum the choice, really unequal in my opinion. The whole daycare system annoys me in general, when we signed up they grilled me that we had capable family members (mil, grandma etc) and why couldn't they watch him instead of daycare. Haha I'm getting more annoyed as I write this, but I can see their point if people just want to palm off a really suck kid and go to work instead.
DeleteI meant sick kid, but sucky kid kind of works too. Damn yuppy iPhone auto correct!
DeleteLizard powers are boys stuff and you posting a pic of his lizard is....your....
ReplyDeleteMan your so....
I can't even say without breaking the "lizard code"