Hi Angie, Wow - I'm really sorry to hear of your plight with your job and the care of your kids. I have a friend who says the same thing as you..."if these were human kids, there'd be no problem..." I, on the other hand (and I don't mean this as a rub in your face), am very fortunate to have a boss that totally allows me the freedom to take care of my animals as needed. The funny thing is??? He's not an animal person! He's surrounded by animal lovers (his family), but he himself could careless about having animals. The good side of that though is he does allow me to bring my ferts to work when one is sick and needs around the clock care. He also allows me to leave work whenever needed for vet appointments and related errands (pharmacy/pet store runs, ordering on the internet and allowing shipments to and from work for shelter donations, etc...). Like you I do not shlep my responsibilites while at work - yes my fert can run around my closed office when I'm having lunch, and yes they can sleep on my desk in their sleepsack while I work and/or need to be fed. In fact, I started leaving an extra cage in my office so that I wouldn't have to carry it back and forth when needed! All this and I live in California! Ok, I guess you can say I am very lucky. One thing you might want to make him realize is how important your animals are to you. With that said, you may want to talk to him and emphasize how it would improve your sanity and job performance if you could bring a sick fert to work (without abusing the privilege) when needed instead of having to stress about it while working. Also you may have to put in the extra mile by making up time when you go to the vets and such. One thing my boss knows is that work is my first priority while there and I will get the work done when needed - even if I have to work 12 hours (and not get paid - I'm an exempt employee). Your attitude about work goes a long way when you want privileges in return - at least it has always worked for me. I just wanted to let you know that I totally feel for you and sympathize... good luck and if you do get good results from speaking directly to him please keep us posted. Tanya [Posted in FML issue 4029]