Stella by the Sea: Public Service Announcement

OK, so if your child is sick please do the rest of us a favor and keep them home. Much appreciated. I guess there's parents that go both ways. Me, I am extra cautious. I usually try to give it 2 days from when her fever breaks before I arrange play dates or face to face contact with people we like and would not wish to get sick. I know not everyone feels this way. OK, so there's the whole the more their sick the better their immune system will be idea. Well, we're pretty much out of the woods but I would rather have a 6 year old with a nasty bug then a 2 year old with a nasty bug as their little bodies take a beating pretty easy. They also aren't as articulate at letting us know what exactly is going on and what hurts. My friend Jenny's 3 year old daughter just spent over 2 weeks in the hospital to drain her lungs from a virus that turned into pneumonia. Followed by her 1 year old that came down with it also and spent a week in the hospital. Thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars later and that's WITH insurance. They have their whole school career to catch every bug in the universe and I know shit happens but if you knowingly take your kid out when their sick, especially around a bunch of other toddlers, you should be exposed to a germ firing squad.

2 weeks ago we were are library group and someone told me one of the kids wasn't coming because they were sick. Lo and behold they came straggling in. I heard the Mom "didn't think he was contagious". If your not sure err on the side of caution people! This isn't a Prom it's a freaking library group. Just stay home. A little bit later I look over and my unsuspecting daughter was playing with the little virus monster and he was hacking this deep cough right into her face. I thought to myself right as it was happening, "uh oh, I hope she doesn't get sick".

Three days later we were in the trenches. 2 weeks, 3 Dr visits, 2 Adeno Viruses, 1 double ear infection, 1 nasty case of pink eye and a UTI later we are on the mend. Stella didn't get more then an hours sleep for 7 days. She would wake up saying, "It hurts", or coughing nonstop. Her fever was up and down to 104 for 6 days. On day 7 she turned the corner. Day 8 Mommy got it. Ugh. Day 12 Mommy went to the Dr and even though it was a virus and there was nothing she could do begged the Dr to give her something to help sleep. Nasty little virus that was. Normally you get a bug and maybe a few days are spent in bed this was a full week where you felt so bad you didn't want to move but could sleep because of the body aches, head aches and incessant coughing. So not only for the kid your sick kid is getting sick but their parents also...please stay home if you are sick. Thanks. Much appreciated.