Regardless of what your profession, hobbies or interests are, there is likely a group here in town that’s meeting on that very topic. Here are just a few examples:

Glen Rock Fan Page on Facebook – connect with folks on Facebook who live here now and who used to live here.

Glen Rock Network on LinkedIn – professionals live right here in “the Rock.” Reach out and connect.

Glen Rock Triathlon Club – the premiere group for triathletes in Northern NJ.

Glen Rock Newcomers and Neighbors – new in town? want to reconnect with folks here? This is the group to join.

MOMS Club of Glen Rock – stay at home moms unite! This group helps you get to know each other and do fun things together.

There are many informal (read: without a web site) groups of folks that get together who share common interests, professions or other traits. Getting in touch with people on the networks mentioned above and asking some questions should easily lead you to those folks as well.

What have we missed? Add it in the comments.

Are they sick? Do they have a fever? Are they well enough to go to school? If I don’t send them I have to re-arrange my schedule, arrange childcare, take a sick day myself….the hassle starts to grow exponentially.

Every parent has a different threshold of tolerance for what constitues sick in their and also in other kids. In addition some parents are simply more germophobic than their neighbors. The decision starts to dwell in those pesky shades of gray as opposed to the clear extremes of the rich hues (aka black and white).  An easy way to determine whether or not your kid is school-worthy (assuming they are not running a high fever) is to ask yourself the following question:

“If my child’s friend came over to my house and was exhibiting these symptoms, would I want them near my kid?”

If the answer is a solid “No” then you should not send your child to be around their friends in school. However if you feel comfortable with answering “Yes” to that question, then your child should probably go to school.  This has to be a clear-cut choice. If you’re on the fence, then the answer is “No.”

Keeping your child home let’s them rest and get better. They will get healthy faster. In addition they will keep other kids healthier by not infecting them (an infection that could very easily come right back to your child). Also, teachers will be healthier. The less teachers have to miss a day at work, the  better off our children will be.

Let’s work to keep our kids healthy and safe this cold and flu season.

What do you think? Is there a better way to determine when to send your child to school? Share you thoughts in the comments.

What will ultimately make this site a success is participation from the community and so we encourage you to engage in the discussions and contribute discussions of your own. We’re always looking for authors and contributors so please sign up for the site and send an email to info@glenrockparent.com letting us know what you’d like to contribute. We’d love to get some folks contributing on a regular basis. Also, we’re very interested in getting participation from parents across the age spectrum – elementary to high school and in between.

Look for the first bits of content to trickle on to the site over the next day or two and then become a more steady stream. The commenting system allows you to use Facebook or Twitter usernames to sign in making it easy to participate and share (if you wish).

We’re very much looking forward to seeing what we can do together.

Welcome.