"Don't sign anything"

The rules, according to our agency, can be boiled down to one simple directive: Don't sign anything.

So every permission slip goes to Mom. This totally violates several other directives, including not telling her what schools her children attend, and confusing the schools, who know Mom can't pick up the kids, so why can she decide all these things for them?

In any case, somehow, this permission slip didn't get to her. Did I not put it in the pile for her? Did she not see it? Did it fall out and get lost? Who knows. But somehow, A's permission slip for sunscreen never got signed.

Now she's spending a good chunk of every day outdoors at her preschool, and with no sunscreen. I learned this yesterday.

My next chance to get the Mom to sign the slip isn't til tomorrow night. Do I send the child to preschool with no sun protection for two more days?

No. I picked up the new form sent by the preschool and signed it.

This whole thing is ridiculous. I have the authority to put sunscreen on her. Why can't I give her teachers permission to PROTECT HER from a health concern?

They tell us our job is to provide for the children's health and safety. Keeping them from getting sunburns seems a basic part of that. To me it was a no-brainer: the kid needs sunscreen. I am horrified that she hasn't had it until now!  Who knew it couldn't be applied without specific, signed, permission? Ugh.

I decided not to tell the agency about it. I'll get another form from the preschool today, and have her mom fill it out tomorrow. She DID sign the one for E, so at least one of her children can use the sunscreen I bought for them, sent in SEPARATELY with each child, and labeled with their names. So that the tubes could just sit unused, apparently. Sigh. If I'm ever on a jury regarding a lawsuit in which a preschool put parent-provided sunscreen on parent-provided kids without a signed form, I'm voting not guilty. The parent implicitly indicated his/her desire for sunscreen to be placed on his/her kids by providing sunscreen.

For additional discussion: Why do we all have to send in tubes of sunscreen for each child? Can't the classroom share? Are there parents who feel so strongly about one brand or strength that they can't share? If so, can't THEY be the ones to provide their own, and the rest of us can be sensible? Everybody arrives with their kids at about the same time; we could discuss it and send in one acceptable bottle. Much less wasteful...because I now own three bottles of sunscreen (two spray for school, one lotion) and three sets of face sunscreen tubes. At the end of the summer I will own half a bottle of each of these, and the SIX items will clutter up my bathroom drawers for a year, at which point I will have to agonize over whether they are still strong enough to be used and whether I should send half a bottle to school, where they might not tell me if they run out until after they've run out for a couple days. And in the end the half-bottles will just rattle around for three or four years, unused, until finally my wife throws them out. What a waste!