In December and January I have received 8 calls from the school health office - and I've probably missed a few in there - because my hypochondriac/attention seeking child is in the nurse's office. I can tell you that he is not dying. He is not sick. He's not bleeding. He doesn't even have a freaking paper cut. He either wants out of something they are doing in class or he just loves the attention that the school nurses shower on him or both.
In December when the calls from the school nurse were coming so frequently that I wanted to change my cell number, we had a long talk with him about this...how he was wasting the time of his classroom teacher, the nurse, and the student who walks him down to the nurse. We even made him write apology notes to the teacher and nurse for wasting their time when he truly wasn't sick. We talked about the story of the little boy who cried "Wolf!" and that he needed to be very careful when he went to the nurse because he truly has a medical issues that might need the nurse's attention one day.
And yet again, today, I received a phone call that he was at the nurse because he was coughing. Give me a break! 2 hours ago the kid was running up and down the stairs acting like a maniac - and yeah, he might have coughed once, but it was nothing serious.
So now I am back wondering what I should do? My immediate reaction is to take away his electronics and not allow him to play with his friends for a specified period of time or take away one of the birthday parties he's been invited to this weekend. But, the punishment doesn't seem to fit the crime.
I have threatened. I have pleaded. I have punished. I have praised him for his good qualities. And now, I am open to suggestions. How do I get my child to stop being a frequent flyer at the nurse's office? Please...Tell me!
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