Member Questions

If equally available (or not available) my husband and I usually swap out - I stay at home in the morning and we trade out at lunch. Otherwise whoever is more flexible takes off, and we make up for it over the weekend.
I hear you, though, about being pressured to be the one to stay -- as if moms somehow were born with a healing touch (OK, we are, but really, they CAN handle it, too.) The second time our DD was sick I came home early from work at the hospital the first day, but had to "just leave" the next morning when she was still sick and DH was putting on the guilt trip. Believe or not, he called his sister who flew across the country to help out the rest of the week. Pitiful. Needless to say, we are moving closer to home, so a car trip will suffice for family to help out while I do my residency.
Also, the university we work for has a backup program called "Caregivers on Call" that can help with that window of time after the fever or diarrhea is gone but your child can't return to daycare yet, or when daycare is closed for a holiday but work isn't. They need a 4 hour notice. We've used it several times and they always have sent someone great, unfortunately, though, when we needed them the most (that week) they couldn't get anyone.