Kids get sick a lot. Especially toddlers. They are exploring, putting things in their mouths all the time, sometimes they even like to lick things like shopping carts. It's terribly challenging to keep a kid from catching something. But there is something we as parents can do to prevent other kids from getting sick. You know, help another parent avoid a week of sleepless night, Stage 4 clingers, and crusty booger snot stains all over everything in the house. And that's to keep your kid cooped up in the house for the entirety of the sickness, and even however long after they may still be contagious.
And yet it's something so many parents don't do. Because that's damn near impossible. But the worse offense is actually letting your sick child play with other kids. Why, parents, why?!
It's clear we can't keep our kids quarantined for every little illness. I've taken my kids food shopping with me when they had colds. Yes, runny noses and all. There are just times where I have to do something and have no one to watch the kids. So they must come along. Of course if they had Chicken Pox or something extremely worrisome I wouldn't expose them to the outside world ... or rather expose the outside world to them. But for the times they are only a little bit of sick, they have been out and about with me. This is why I am now vigilant about cleaning off the part of the grocery cart where kids sit. I bet you'll be more careful now, too, if you weren't already.
One of the worse offenses a parent can make against another parent and perhaps even more than putting down their parenting style is letting your viral little hotbed of disease play in the sandbox with the other kids, or visit the children's museum or the library or actually set up a playdate and spent time coughing, sneezing, and drooling the germs all over the place virtually guaranteeing the other kids will get sick, too. Might as well just bring the tainted lollipops so we at least get a little serving of candy with your plague.
Put down my parenting style all you want -- I can ignore you. Pass us whatever's going around because you're letting your knowingly sick kid play with others is not something anyone can ignore. Like I mentioned it's basically a sentence of sleepless nights, Stage 4 clingers, and boogers boogers boogers everywhere.
It happens, though. I know. I can't get angry. I'm not. There have been times I was in complete denial my child was sick -- boogers and fever and unexplained tears and all. And that's because of how awful it can be when our little loves are not feeling well. I may have even been guilty of spreading our sick to undeserving playdates. So for the times we have oops! accidentally done such a thing, the only way to make up for the crime is *drum roll* offer to babysit so those parents get a deserved night out. Or make them your best banana bread. Or both.
Have you let your kid play with other kids at the playground or elsewhere even when your child is sick? Does that make a bad mom or dad?
Image via Pink Poppy Photography/Flickr
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Comments 135
I had a friend that showed up for a play date with sick kids. She got pissed when i sent her home. i wouldn't let them in the house. I don't feel bad for it either. If my kids were sick, I'd call and cancel. Not show up ready to infect your house. If you can't be that curteous, I don't need to hang around you.
I don't have a problem with sick playdates. I do think it's important to notify the other parents and let them know, and reschedual if that's what they are comfortable with.
My family just spent two weeks with whatever crap was going around. I'm not hating on my friends for passing it on to us. It happens. It's life.
agree with wjbrady2011
Yes, I hate when parents do this. I had a relative bring her sick kids to play with mine without telling me they had GI bug (I guess because kids get sick all the time, so what?). Except her kids got over their virus handily, but my youngest nearly had to be hospitalized. The problem here is not informing the other parent, so they can make a decision about whether they want to still have the kids play together. Not to mention, how do you know exactly what your child has? Maybe its the beginnings of the flu; maybe its measles. Also, how do you know what's going on in the other child's home? Maybe their grandmother is staying with the family during her cancer treatments; maybe there is a a preemie at their home. Bottom line: its selfish and rude to make this decision for others. Of course, you might not know during the earliest part of the infectious stage, but once I know and until they are no longer infectious, I keep them home.
I hope the fining the parents part was a joke.
Anyway, my daughter had allergies before, and once when she was sick, we took her to the doctor to double check if it was her allergies again and he said it looked like it, but we needed to watch her to be sure. We watched her, it still seemed like allergies, then I took her over to someone's house to babysit their baby who is two weeks younger than her because I thought it was just allergies. Next night, she spikes a fever and has trouble breathing. Turns out, she had RSV.
Thankfully the other baby didn't get sick, but my point is you don't always know even when it looks like the parents are knowingly doing it. So if you see a kid on the playground or in a play place who has a runny nose and LOOKS sick, don't get all pissy.
That being said, my cousin took her son over to my other cousin's house to play with her daughter, knowing that he had JUST gotten over RSV and that the girl had a lot of trouble with her health since she was born and had already had several respitory infections. That kind of thing is obvious and the thing you do to avoid it? Ask questions. Ask if they've recently been sick or if they have cold symptoms before you let some kid play at your house. It's that simple.