I work at a school for children with special needs and one of the most aggravating things is parents who send their kids in to school sick. I understand that raising a child with a disability is tiring and these parents need their respite; but the health hazards of sending an unwell child to us is just way too high.

Not only do you risk your child getting worse, but you're putting the other children and the staff at risk of getting sick as well. We have kids at our school that are so much more physically frail than others that even a common cold can be devastating for their bodies. It's just disrespectful to send your kid in sick when parents know we have kids with various health issues.

I understand that parents have to go to work or other things, but to be quite frank it's really not our problem. We're not babysitters, we're here to teach these kids what they need to know to get through life. A kid who gets sent in sick isn't going to be able to focus properly, so they won't learn anything. There's no point in sending them. As parents, they should be organising a way for them to keep the child home and have someone look after them. Don't just send them to us as if all we do is sit around all day and play games with them.

Since I'm also ranting about work, let me also just throw in their that annual swimming lessons are the bane of my existence. The amount of stress from having little kids in the water and being responsible for their safety has shed like 20 years off my lifespan.