"Poor Daddy" part 1. Sucker for the sick card?

 There must be some tool for measuring if you are being a sucker or being conned or not.   Dont they have something on the market?   

On Wednesday after Easter my older daughter was sick again.  Upset stomach.  That is the hardest sickness to confirm. A cough, they cough.  A runny nose, they blow their nose.  Maybe a headache too.  But an upset stomach?  Yeah yeah they are curled up and in pain.  "Dad, I cant make it to my first class".  Ok, ok.   sure sure. Skip that one and go later in the morning.  

Meanwhile I go to work.  I come back home.  "So, did you go to school at all?"   

"Well no.  See, I fell back asleep, woke up, got up at 11 and threw up.   Then I took a long shower and it was noon. I had a dental hygiene appointment at 2pm, so... just then I noticed that my room was a mess, that I had a big pile of clothes on the floor and my desk was messy.  So I spent over an hour cleaning it up."  

Ok.  Just one thing.  Well, maybe two.  Or maybe more.  Why does she suddenly notice now on Wednesday after we have been telling her on the weekend that she has clothes to put away?  And her  desk has been messy for months.  Suddenly she sees this, on Wednesday during school, and thinks that it would be a good idea to clean it up.  I have to say she really cleaned everything off her desk.  At least that part is good.  But it isnt too unobvious that it was an excuse.  And the throw up? Who knows.  No one was home.  She didnt take a picture of her spewing into the toilet bowl.  

Then of course she felt better.  She made it to her dental appointment with no problem and she even felt well enough and sunny to go out with some friends in the afternoon and come home for supper.   Fancy that.  

Now fine, maybe I am being unfair.  I dont know girls and womens pains coming on and how long they last. Many men dont.  Not their fault, but then men shouldnt second guess painful cramps and quick sicknesses, which in fact is what I am doing today.  So, my bad. 

I guess it boils down to whether your child has a good reputation or not.  If they are using the sick card quite often, you start to wonder how much and how many times they can really be sick, or in pain?   

But I think the father is between a rock and a hard place and will always lose.  1) If the dad says "no, this time you are going to school," you cant be certain you arent sending them into school to throw up someplace awkward or to send their germs all over, or just in general to suffer and be uncomfortable all day and in pain.   2) if the dad says, "yes yes, sure sure, you better stay home", you cant be sure that the child isnt calling him a sucker behind his back or something thereof and learning that the sick card can usually be used if asked of Dad.   Dad loses no matter what.  Poor Daddy.  

Cant we invent a thermometer that measures truth?  I guess a lie detector test which can be put under the tongue or shoved up the butt like a thermometer in the old days?   

Had this album when I was a kid.  Brother threw it away.  I "rebought" it this week used and have been listening to it endlessly.