Don't come to school please

When you live in another country, you experience much which is different. Having our boys in local kindergartens and schools has taught us much. One thing which has happened every year is for the school or kindergarten, or certain classes within it, to be shut for a few days. Why? Because several of the children have flu. Every winter flu does the rounds here. Many people, children included, go to hospital to get an anti-flu injection. Yet still every year schools and classes have to shut down as the flu spreads its way among the children. So it's no surprise that the H1N1 flu has been cruising through schools and kindergartens. Alistair's kindergarten was shut last week. This week several classes in Calum's school (including his) have shut down as the number of children with H1N1 flu reaches the limit for class closure. Homework sheets are given out. The children are told to rest at home, not go to their friends' houses or club activities and avoid places where others are. Not easy for energy-filled boys! Calum even brought home a chart on which we are meant to record his temperature morning and night and indicate whether he's had a runny nose or a cough or whatever and hand that in to the teacher when he goes back next week. Calum is quite glad to have a few days off. Dad is not so filled with glee (Mum is in India and misses it all) !