Help me determine if I'm a douche.

kcisthebombdotcom

On Monday I woke up sick with a pretty nasty head/chest cold. I ended up staying home that day but for the rest of the week I kept up with the kids schedules of playgroups/activities/therapy. I chugged a lot of dayquil, used hand sanitizer, and went along with our regular routine. Today both the kids woke up sick. On one hand, I feel bad for all the small humans they likely infested with their germs yesterday but on the other hand I think it's kind of silly to keep them home because they *might* get sick in the future.

So parenting, wdyd in these situations? I realize this is of the greatest importance.

[Deleted User]

Dude, you cannot set us up like this.  This is entrapment.

kcisthebombdotcom

overture:

Dude, you cannot set us up like this.  This is entrapment.

kcisthebombdotcom

overture:

Dude, you cannot set us up like this.  This is entrapment.

LOL!

LissaLee

I would have done the same thing.

ASmallWonder

IMO it sucks but people can't stay away from others on the off chance they might get sick.  By that logic, the entire house has to stay home damn near all the time because someone is ALWAYS sick.

MrsGoodkat

It's hard when the kids aren't sick and I probably wouldn't keep them home if they weren't displaying symptoms but were you around the other kids while sick? I would judge you for spreading your own germs, not so much your kids since they weren't sick at the time.

kbingram51

Yes.

 

 

But not for that. 

KJmashup

ashleysyn2:

I would've done the same as you.  You can't keep everyone in a bubble in fear that they might get sick or they might pass along germs when they're not even sick yet.

So I don't think you're a douche for that.

Agree. 

MrsJakes

I think it's overkill to stay home just because your kid might get sick. Once the kid is sick, though, it's time to stay home.

ridesbuttons

Sorry, I didn't expect any text past the subject. 

NotSharknado

gwinnygirl:

Kids get sick. However, I probably wouldn't have went on play dates amp; stuff if I had a fever/knew I was contagious.

This. Or at least warn the participants of the play date and let the parents decide if they would like to be exposed or not.

Manateearmz

If I was sick I wouldn't be around other kids. So maybe you're only half a douche? 

kcisthebombdotcom

MrsGoodkat:

It's hard when the kids aren't sick and I probably wouldn't keep them home if they weren't displaying symptoms but were you around the other kids while sick? I would judge you for spreading your own germs, not so much your kids since they weren't sick at the time.

As you can tell by my tickers my humans are small, so activities/playgroups have mom in tow.

I also wasn't running a fever, if that makes any difference. Just standard cold symptoms.

kcisthebombdotcom

IrishCoffee7:

I'm LOLing at the title of this post...you have to know you're asking for trouble.

I would be likely to handle it like you did, but depending on who I'm with I might give other families a heads-up first.  Most of my friends are also pretty laid back...there are germs everywhere and you can't hide from all of them.  I would rather my kid get out and play even if he does get exposed to something.

 

Yeah, it was a slightly self-deprecating attempt at humor. It seems like everyone got a chuckle but actually answered the question, so it worked.

scoutkate

Oh, KC.

As a general rule, yes.  Yes, you are.  But not for this. 

MrsNCT

I wouldn't keep my kid home just because she might get sick. I wouldn't take her out if she was sick but if we kept her in the house because she might get sick and I dont want to risk infecting others we would never leave the house.

Sonadora

I can't keep my kid home from daycare when she has a regular old cold or else I would have to take 6 months off from work every year.  So on the theory that she might potentially have a cold coming on, I would have just continued about our business.

If I were feeling like ass myself I might not have gone to the playdates but I wouldn't have avoided taking my kid to therapy or the park just because I have a cold.

kaykrash

Honestly, I'm a first time mom, but I've been a professional nanny (and a babysitter) for 11 years now and it is one of my biggest peeves when parents bubble up their children. All the "rules" these days for keeping children safe isn't doing them very much good. Sickness rates as adults are higher, diseases are up, etc. 50 years ago parents were raising their children to play with mercury, go to school sick or plagued and eat dirt and the larger majority of them lived.

While some caution should be taken, the more germs your kids (and others, honestly) are exposed to, the better their immune systems will be to fight it off in the future. When we get sick, our bodies develop distinct antibodies to fight off that specific infection. If you never get it, you'll never fight it off and the older you get without having it, the more likely it is to seriously hurt you. (From a medical standpoint.)

 

SO NO, you're not a douche. You're a regular human being who hasn't been sucked into the pharmaceutical bs about over-protecting your family from germs. Congrats.