Acceptable level of sickness?

[Tenacious_D]

So we have a nanny come 1-2 days a week and share her with another mom. She comes just to watch E while I get some alone time with S and can do some errands...the problem is this kid is ALWAYS sick. Today he has a constant drip of green goo and a horrible sounding cough. The other mom also has a newborn and her husband is a consultant so is only home on the weekends. I host here so am worried a) that E will get sick and b) the baby could get sick. Do I tell the mom that she can't bring her son tomorrow? Do I just let is slide and ask the nanny to be vigilant about keeping things somewhat sanitized? BTW, he also has a bit of diarrhea. I can deal with germs but this seems like a particularly bad case but I also don't want to be an ass and tell her she loses a day with the nanny. We talked about cancellation when kids were sick (fever etc.) but I think this is a little tricky. What do you wise moms think I should do/say?

[Meenah]

Is it possible to have her come to your house one day and watch only your kids and then go to the other house and watch just those kids on the second day for any week that any of them are sick? You could still double up on the weeks that they are all relatively well. For me I could handle the green mucus, but the diarrhea would be the deal breaker.

[Michele]

I like Luannes compromise.

But I wonder if the green nasal? Discharge could be really bad allergies and the cough and diarrhea are secondary to swallowing all the nasty mucus? I only suggest this because you say this kid seems to always be sick. He might not be contagious. Of course it is cold and flu season, so I totally understand not wanting to chance if especially with a newborn in the house.

[Tenacious_D]

unfortunately, she works at another family's place the rest of the week. I think I might just suck it up thanks!

[poky]

Luanne wasn't suggesting getting the nanny for more days, just splitting up the two days you already have her (giving each of you one day, rather than 2) when the kid(s) are sick.
(and I just re-read and saw that you said "1-2 days per week". Never mind for 1-day weeks!)

[Tenacious_D]

The only problem is that she would lose money because if we cancel we still have to pay her for both kids even if one doesn't show up. Her rate is 18 bucks and we split that...I think I'm also in a particular pissy mood today so it bothered me more than usual.

I get why it bothers you. I totally do.

You'll probably just have to deal w/the runny nose, but I agree w/Luanne that the diarrhea is a reasonable place to draw the line. It really falls into the same line as fever, unless it can be traced to something specific he ate (too much fruit ... not that that happens here ...) .