Photo: Imgur user
Cold and flu season is in FULL swing—and it can be not just worrisome for parents as we care for sick little ones, but also? Downright INCONVENIENT, causing us to miss family gatherings, sporting events, and other things we are looking forward to. It’s a bummer, but I firmly believe that the BEST thing to do is keep our sick selves and kids at HOME, and not risk exposing other family members and friends, especially if any of them have conditions such as asthma or immune deficiencies.
One frustrated mom posted a warning along these lines to Imgur after a sick relative who she was told was “not contagious” attended her holiday dinner. Soon after, her toddler “C” contracted the illness and had to spend some time in the hospital. She wrote, on Imgur, “Please. If your child has a cold, or a flu, or an upper respiratory infection, please keep them home and take care of them,” the Imgur user shared. Her toddler daughter ended up in the ICU after playing with her cousin who was sick but still attended Christmas dinner. Though the cousin’s parents said their child was not contagious, they were wrong, and C, who has asthma, caught it and was soon in the ICU on antibiotics and a breathing machine. Scary! Her mom said that C is fully vaccinated for her age, and that she was sharing her family’s story to hopefully prevent another child from ending up in the hospital when it could have been prevented by simply keeping a sick child at home, no matter the inconvenience.
(C’s mom has since removed her post, but you can read the text here.)
Three Christmases ago, we had to completely postpone our family Christmas because my own family got the stomach flu – ALL of us— and it was so bad, that my mom also got it when she was trying to help care for us, and my nephew then got it from carpooling with us, and YEAH – it was bad. My other brother’s family completely stayed away from all of us until we were well for quite awhile because they had two family members with weakened immune systems that they did not want to infect. So, it really sucked to have to delay Christmas, even though we were feeling better, because we were still contagious, but I know that it was the RIGHT decision.
