PARENTS say the darnedest things

We've got a thread for kids, but sometimes the parents come out with some doozies too! For example -

Parent: I just saw that donut is one of the breakfast options and I don't want (child) having too much sugar, can you tell the cafeteria that he's allergic to sugar?

Me:

After some parent education about what allergy alerts are actually for, and the sugar content of our donuts (they are really more like bread rolls, I had a similar concern until I bought one), I encouraged mom to talk to her student about healthy choices. He's in 5th grade, he is old enough to take responsibility for food choices.

Anyone else have a recent parent encounter that makes you shake your head and giggle?

I don't even know where to begin.

the ole' my child has a peanut allergy, okay I need an epi pen and Benadryl & orders...mom then whispers, we just tell him that so he doesn't sit with a certain kid that we don't like and that kid eats peanut butter all the time. Mom continues..he also has a "reaction" to cheese..??mmmm(shaking my head), cheese? again, whispering, Mom states, Another boy who we don't like, eats cheese, so we told our son he has allergies to peanutbutter and cheese.

Awesome parenting..wanna be like you when I grow up

[Flare, ASN, BSN]

i'm with SnowyJ - i have a feeling that now that we have a place to log it- i'll be coming here often!

[tining, BSN, RN]

I am NOT kidding - boy rolled his ankle, refused to walk (no swelling or bruising seen). Called mom thinking she would tell him to get to class. Nope, she asked "have you done an X-ray yet?" Well of course our school has an X-ray machine upstairs. Seriously? She made such a big deal about this, and was going to send him to school in a wheelchair and progress to a walker. When she got here he walked out perfectly without assistance.

[JenTheSchoolRN, BSN, RN]

I am NOT kidding - boy rolled his ankle, refused to walk (no swelling or bruising seen). Called mom thinking she would tell him to get to class. Nope, she asked "have you done an X-ray yet?" Well of course our school has an X-ray machine upstairs. Seriously? She made such a big deal about this, and was going to send him to school in a wheelchair and progress to a walker. When she got here he walked out perfectly without assistance.

Wow.

I might have responded the same way I do to students: "My x-ray vision is broken. Forever."

1. What do you mean you cannot give my child Advil that expired 4 years ago?

2. Are you sure you do not have a big bottle of Tylenol somewhere in your clinic that you can give to my darling who was sick when he left the house 6 minutes ago?

3. He has a fever of 102? really? Does this mean I need to pick him up?

4

[JenTheSchoolRN, BSN, RN]

"What do you mean you can't give my child a pill I send him in with wrapped in saran wrap?"

(Yes, this actually happened. I know.)

[CalNevaMimi, LPN, LVN]

Parent came to change her son with pee-pee pants. "He does this a lot because he is not circumcised." Oh, dear.

1. What do you mean you cannot give my child Advil that expired 4 years ago?

2. Are you sure you do not have a big bottle of Tylenol somewhere in your clinic that you can give to my darling who was sick when he left the house 6 minutes ago?

3. He has a fever of 102? really? Does this mean I need to pick him up?

4

LOL! I did not finish the post because I got called away to bandage a student across the hall with 1/2 drop of blood on his arm. Because of me wiping it with an antiseptic wipe and plopping a band-aid on there, the kid will now not have to have an amputation!!!

[Flare, ASN, BSN]

LOL! I did not finish the post because I got called away to bandage a student across the hall with 1/2 drop of blood on his arm. Because of me wiping it with an antiseptic wipe and plopping a band-aid on there, the kid will now not have to have an amputation!!!

performing miracles again? I performed a similar miracle with a student unable to walk who had fallen roller skating and bruised his leg (he was fine)

One of the biggest jaw drop moments for me was a call to a parent to report that a child had a high fever (it was a doozy as i remember - over 103) and i was met with an annoyed sigh by one of those desperate housewife type moms who declared she'd get to the school after she finished her time at the gym. Uh no... you'll come now... your child is miserable and I will let your child know that you valued your workout time over their welfare.

Dear Lord. Yeah, I had a diva mom who was pissed that I dare disturb her "lunch with the girls" for the pesky issue that her daughter had a fever. (Turned out to be flu.)

She walks in about an hour later all "done up," Coach bag on the crook of her arm, clickety-clicking in on stilettos...Looks at her daughter and sharply says

"LET'S GO!"

As if the poor kid planned to be sick and ruin her day. I seriously nearly throat punched her.

One of these days you can count on me going down in a blaze of glory.

[KelRN215, BSN, RN]

Not in a school but I had the mother of a child (who's s/p heart transplant) ask me if they could have a Christmas Tree last holiday season. "Won't it take oxygen away from him?" she asked. Seriously. 7th grade science for the win.

[ohiobobcat]

Student's parents call in AM stating student "Joe" is sick and will be staying home with a fever.

Joe shows up at noon stating "I feel much better." His cheeks are flushed. Attendance sends him to me for assessment. Student reports having a fever of 102 that morning. "But I don't have a fever now!! I took medicine and I feel better." Student took some Tylenol around 9 am. No wonder you feel better, buddy!

Call to mom:

Me: "Hi. I know you just dropped Joe off at school, but he needs to go home. The only reason he doesn't have a fever now is because the Tylenol is working. He needs to be fever-free without medicine for 24 hours".

Mom: "But he feels much better now!!!"

Me: "I understand, but he is still contagious, spewing germs all over my school, according to school guidelines, he needs to go home."

Mom: *Sigh* "Well I just pulled in my dooryard. I haven't even gotten out of the car yet"

Me: "Great! You can come right back to get him. Thanks!"

[Supernrse01]

I had a parent call me a few years back bc she was not happy that the Asst Principal had administered her child's medication the previous day. She was upset even though the principal is trained AND Mom had signed our medication form, granting the principal permission to administer. Anyway, during this whole conversation, Mom says, " I just worry about people, even nurses giving the medication. The last school nurse FATALLY overdosed her and we don't want that to happen again." Say what?!?

[OrganizedChaos, LVN]

I had a parent call me a few years back bc she was not happy that the Asst Principal had administered her child's medication the previous day. She was upset even though the principal is trained AND Mom had signed our medication form, granting the principal permission to administer. Anyway, during this whole conversation, Mom says, " I just worry about people, even nurses giving the medication. The last school nurse FATALLY overdosed her and we don't want that to happen again." Say what?!?

Lol. Does mom know what the word 'fatally' means?

Student's parents call in AM stating student "Joe" is sick and will be staying home with a fever.

Joe shows up at noon stating "I feel much better." His cheeks are flushed. Attendance sends him to me for assessment. Student reports having a fever of 102 that morning. "But I don't have a fever now!! I took medicine and I feel better." Student took some Tylenol around 9 am. No wonder you feel better, buddy!

Call to mom:

Me: "Hi. I know you just dropped Joe off at school, but he needs to go home. The only reason he doesn't have a fever now is because the Tylenol is working. He needs to be fever-free without medicine for 24 hours".

Mom: "But he feels much better now!!!"

Me: "I understand, but he is still contagious, spewing germs all over my school, according to school guidelines, he needs to go home."

Mom: *Sigh* "Well I just pulled in my dooryard. I haven't even gotten out of the car yet"

Me: "Great! You can come right back to get him. Thanks!"

OR, I will get the opposite of this. Student presents to me at 7:45 (school starts at 8:30) and 3 minutes after getting out of parent's car. No fever, nothing. What did mom do/say? Nothing, just that I HAD to go to school. So, I agree and send them on their merry little way. 14 minutes later (school still has not yet technically started) the front office calls looking for them because mom is here to pick up. SAY WHAT????

[NutmeggeRN, BSN]

Had a student with a concussion from the weekend who was not in great shape, I said

"I think s/he needs to go home"....

"XYZ can have a headache at school just as easily as at home!!!!"

Yep, it took that kid months to recover from the side effects...