So out of curiosity...how protective are you?

In general I am not protective of illnesses. I am a little leary of the throw up stuff, but I tend to be pretty reasonable.

Here is my story. My 2 boys go to the same school. As does my oldest sons best friend. We walk home together every day. So yesterday I picked up my youngest son, he looked bad, they all walked together (not my oldest), I got him took his temp and it was 102. YIKES. So by time my other two kids got home my littlest guy was on quarantine, they had no interaction last night. So I take him to the doc this am, he has strep. So I get a call at 3:15 to see if my oldest son could go over to the friends house. Sure I say, but mention that btw the little guy has strep. She freaked and said, no we can't have your son over. It doesn't bother me, but it does amuse me. I am glad I mentioned it. But really her son spend more time with my sick kid yesterday than my own children!

Now I would never invite another kid over here to play. But wouldn't of thought twice about letting my healthy one get out of the house (so he doesn't get sick and stay bored). I was a bit different with this when they were little. But they are all at school together anyway and all see each other, so if my oldest had it, everyone is already exposed.

So I was just curious...are other moms like this?

By Cocoabutter on Thursday, October 5, 2006 - 05:02 pm:

I don't like it when my son gets sick b/c someone else's kid is sick and isn't careful about contact. But, what can you do? Germs are everywhere.

By Tarable on Thursday, October 5, 2006 - 05:07 pm:

I tend to agree with you Kaye. I would let the older non sick child go play. Don't see any reason to punish him for his little brother being sick..

But I also don't get upset when my kid gets sick because of someone else.. All you can do is try to keep contact to a minimum and hope that everyone else stays healthy.

By Ginny~moderator on Thursday, October 5, 2006 - 05:54 pm:

Strep being the nasty thing that it is, and not knowing if your older son caught it and is carrying the strep bug, I think I would have thanked you for alerting me and put off the play date until you are sure everyone is well (or as well as you can be sure, what with school kids and cross-infection). I know you kept them separated yesterday, but what about the day before? I do think it was very thoughtful of you to alert the other mother, which is what I think every parent should do.

By Karen~admin on Thursday, October 5, 2006 - 05:54 pm:

If the other child was around your sick child yesterday, he's already exposed to strep and has a better chance of getting it from that exposure than from your *well* child. I believe the incubation period of strep is 2 - 5 days, and it *is* possible your older DS will catch it. But if he's not symptomatic, and considering the other child was around yoyr sick child already, I don't see what the big deal would have been if your DS had gone over to play.

Some people really freak out though. The thing is, your DS got it from *someone* - it's probably making its rounds through the school so this other child might get it anyway.

There's not a lot you can do when kids are in school and exposed to illnesses. Teaching them the importance of hand washing, not sharing food or drinks....and even then, they still get sick.

By Ginny~moderator on Thursday, October 5, 2006 - 05:55 pm:

And, it could be that her child, or one of her children, is particularly sensitive or has some other condition that makes an infection more nasty than usual, or someone just got over something. I know that Scott has to be very careful about catching a cold from someone else because, although he is usually symptom free, he is an asthmatic, and a cold can easily turn into pneumonia with him (and did so twice last winter). And he's 39 (lord help me - my baby is 39!!)

By Dana on Thursday, October 5, 2006 - 05:58 pm:

Hmmm, it depends on the age and how often they have already been together. My entire household is highly suseptible to strep. If my DH gets it he can't go to work (if it is really bad, otherwise he still does). It's his own business and if he isnt there, the shop is closed. So we try to protect that from happening. So if I know strep is for certain, I say no.

If it is something else, besides the throw up stuff, I will go ahead and let them play, but no they may not play inside. We have great back yard they can play in.