**Note: I have changed the title of this post from "My Preschool Won't Apply Sunscreen!" to "Why Can't My Preschool Apply Sunscreen?!" because the original title was taking away from my original intent which was to rail against the craziness that parents (and schools!) now have to deal with legal mumbo jumbo for simple things like preventing a child's sunburn.  It was never my intention to shine a spotlight on my particular preschool or to insinuate that the staff there is doing anything less than their best efforts to keep their students safe.  While I understand the need for stringent regulations such as these, I still absolutely hate the need for them.   It truly makes my head spin…**

My almost-four-year-old is currently in preschool from 8:45-11:45 every morning and will be attending the same facility for 6 weeks of camp from 9am-12pm.  I recently received notice that parents need to remember to liberally apply sunscreen in the morning before school/camp because the teachers/counselors are not allowed to reapply it to the children.

This left me wondering–is this a chemical issue, a touching issue–or both? 

I turned to Google, to Mamapedia.com and to the mommy blogger community on twitter and, finally, Jennifer Taggart a.k.a The Smart Mama directed me to the actual law citation 417.11(j)(12).  Basically, it turns out that teachers are actually allowed to apply sunscreen in certain circumstances providing certain programs and authorizations are in place.

Knowing full well that sunscreen is meant to be reapplied every 2-3 hours and armed with possibly too much legal information, I will now go to the school and find out what can be done about protecting my son's pale, sensitive skin besides keeping him indoors or wearing too much clothing.

So many legal hoops for such a small issue….