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I'm curious as to other parent's opinions about this.
A cousin is getting married in October. He lives about 600 miles from me, and it's a 9 hour drive from my home. The wedding will be on a Saturday in October.
We have two kids, at the time of the trip they will be 6 and 3. We are also planning on driving. While I would prefer to fly, I don't really want to spend the money on the flight+car rental. We are tentatively planning on leaving Friday morning and coming home on Monday. That would mean our son, who will be in first grade, will miss two days of school. Do you think this sounds about right? In your opinion would it be alright to miss a third day of school?
The wedding is in an area of the country I haven't spent much time in, and we would love to take the opportunity and do a little sightseeing while we are out there. Had my cousin decided to get married in the summer we would have probably turned it into a week long trip.
With the trip as I am planning it we will have one free day to go sightseeing and do as we wish. Friday and Monday will be travel days, and Saturday will be the wedding.
What would you do?
Go to the school and get a little bit of homework from the teacher for your school-aged child and go have fun!
I caught every cold or flu that went around all through elementary school. I averaged 12 days absent in a typical semester. Nonetheless, I got double promoted twice and won 2 spelling bee's.
My mom got my schoolwork from the teacher if I was off more than 2 or 3 days (I was often home for a week - loved it!).
I'd keep quiet about what you're doing, and have him do some (faked out) coughing and sneezing on Thursday. Maybe a little pepper in his eyes before you send him to school, too, so his eyes are red and runny. Send him back Tuesday, all better.
Sounds like a fun weekend that they'd enjoy.
I am really appalled at this advice in bold. Not only should the OP be dishonest, but s/he should tell the child to be dishonest as well. And you know what is likely to happen? If the kid is coughing and sneezing and one of his friends asks about it, the kid will probably tell the truth, e.g. "My mom/dad told me to fake being sick because we're going to this wedding. . ." OR, the teacher will send him/her to the health room, where they'll find there is nothing wrong. Jeez Louise!
Absolutely no homework on trips. You wouldn't bring your work cell phone with you on a trip.
The child is only in first grade, so there's not likely to be any homework. There might be some reading to do. It's a little different than work. The child is technically ditching school. At work, you get a certain number of vacation days when you're not supposed to be doing anything work-related.
You seen what schools are now? Your kid ain't missin' much.
Family is usually way more important.
Take the trip.
Take the time you need to do it safely.
What schools are up to now? Not sure if I understand what you mean. School is more demanding now than when I went. The things my son is learning and doing in kindergarten are probably closer to what I did in first grade. This includes having homework and a nightly reading assignment.
I agree though about taking the time. After thinking about it, we've decided 3 days would be fine. We'll just hope against hope that he won't miss as many days for being sick next year as he has this year.
About the offending relatives concern. Our kids came before that. Not just the scholastic but also things like sitting in a car for hours.
Personally, I would (and have) said things like so sorry we can't make it, really looking forward to the summer when we can stay longer, see more, not make the kids crazy in the vehicle, (not make ourselves crazy too). Send a nice gift. Plan for the summer.
Your kid will get more out of being with family for a few days than he will out of school. Enjoy the trip--even all the time in the car. Do you remember classroom time or road trips from your childhood?
Thing is, I'd take a longer, more fun, more relaxing trip by car in the summer. With shorter times in the car. If that plane trip is still not a go.
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