Ever since my son started Pre-K in early September

[Orrex]

Both he and at least one other person in the house have been sick. That is, he's had varying degrees of sniffles, coughs, and refunding for the past seven or so weeks, and either his brother, his mother, or I have likewise been ill.

:wtf:

What kind of pestilence are they brewing in public schools? I expected a cold here and there, but this kind of non-stop pathology is getting a little tiresome.


Anyone care to share a similarly delightful experience?

[GreenPartyVoter]

1. Pretty typical in my experience.

[Orrex]

13. That's what I've heard from other parents at the kids' bus stop and elsewhere

There's a sort of knowing, good-natured, we've-been-there-too vibe when we talk about it. Me, I want to flood the school with Lysol three times a week.

[Arkansas Granny]

2. When I had 4 kids in school, I caught colds from each and every one of them.

Children can be very generous with bacteria and school is a wonderful place to share them and then bring them home.

[Orrex]

14. Nightmarish

The good news is that his little brother will be going in about three years, so we get to start all over again!

[TZ]

3. Well...

I have just the thing for you! I little mix of thimerosol a little bit of echinacea and a little bit of Airborne for good measure.
That ought to cure everything!;-)

[Orrex]

15. The weird thing is that I've been changing my Kinoki pads twice a day

You'd think that I could stride among the infected with impunity. But no.

[AngryAmish]

42. You do realize that those things are a scam?

[dawgmom]

4. My best friend teaches middle school

I always tease her about the fact that she has some kind of creeping crud during the entire school year. It starts about two weeks after school starts, and doesn't end until school lets out for the summer. Kids are walking virus factories.

[Orrex]

16. I'd have thought that I'd remember having gone through such a gantlet when I was that age

But I don't recall too many colds--I'm sure that the memory has faded, and that I was every bit as infected as anyone else.

Time to homeschool everyone!

[dawgmom]

24. I don't remember being sick all the time either...

...so I don't know why she's so susceptible. She lives in Denver, and had chronic sinus infections for the first few years she lived there, so maybe she's just got a really good breeding ground. She does these horrible nasal wash things every night though, which seems to help. Lemme tell ya, that's a lovely sound coming from the bathroom....

On edit: She actually has another theory, which is that most parents can't keep a kid home when they're sick, as they both work. This is especially true where she teaches, which is a lower-income area. So, the kids come to school sick, and spread their germs. When I was growing up, a lot more Moms were at home (and that's NOT a judgment one way or another -- just a statement of fact) and so when you were sick, you stayed home with Mom and had 7-Up and soda crackers. (The official sick meal in my house.)

[Orrex]

26. We've kind of had the same thought re: two working parents

And it's likewise no judgment, just an unfortunate statement of reality.

What concerns me is that we've wound up keeping him at home quite a bit, and I don't want to run afoul of the attendance policy. I mean, the way I look at it, if they wanted him to attend, they should have done something about Patient Zero instead of loosing him among the populace and infecting my little boy!

[dawgmom]

28. Poor little guy...

That truly sux.
By the way...is that your wife's work on your homepage? She's talented.

[Orrex]

29. It's actually *her* homepage. I'm just the billboard

And I agree that she's talented! And since she's duking it out with the latest round of illness (literally right at this moment), I'll pass on your kind words in hope that they'll make her feel a little better...

[dawgmom]

30. Tell her that I especially like the dolls.

Quite whimsical. She should do more of those. I think there's a market. (But then, that's just my opinion.) :)

[MsKandice01]

5. Very typical...

It's not just in public schools either. My son has never been to public school but up until he got into Kindergarten, he was sick every few weeks for what seemed like a couple years. Just look at it like a workout for his immune system. That's what I did anyway.

[Orrex]

18. My former coworkers, who put their kids in daycare...

used to assert that by exposing their kids to illness, they were making them "bulletproof," which was the actual word that they used. I called bullshit.

Moreover, it just seems mean to drop a one-year-old into a microbe stew like that. At least the 4.5 year old can tell me that his throat hurts or that he's about to vomit on me.

[MsKandice01]

37. Well, some of us don't have any other option...

I sent my son to in-home daycare until he was 4 because I couldn't afford a nanny and staying home with him definitely wasn't an option and he was still sick all the time. He hasn't been sick in quite some time though.

And he didn't have to tell me he had a sore throat. I always knew when he was sick.

[Orrex]

40. Well, I wasn't referring to you--obviously some people have no other option

That's no fault of theirs. The coworkers to whom I was referring, on the other hand, were the married-with-two-income-and-four-cars-and-big-house types, so their choice to put the kids in daycare was entirely up to them.

And of course a parent can tell when his or her child is sick! My point was that it's a little easier to deal with when the child is in a position to tell you more specifically what's ailing them.

[MorningGlow]

6. Welcome to the petri dish

When my son started preschool, in the "3s" group, he caught the most incredible plagues every other week. And that was in his "throw up for every illness including colds" stage. x( It eases up in a couple of months.

This year (kindergarten) he's "only" had three illnesses so far--a cold for three days, immediately followed by a virus with lots of phlegm, immediately followed by another cold. It was mind boggling. (And yes, he shared them all with me and, to a lesser extent, Mr. MG!)

[Orrex]

19. Because my penmanship is atrocious...

I've been writing his absence excuses on the computer and saving them for our own records. Weirdly, he's missed each of the last four Tuesdays. That's a lot of missed school, but I just can't see sending him when his skin has that purple-gray tone and his nose is running like a pair of faucets.

Also, on orientation day, they specifically told us to keep the kids home if they're sick. So why are we the only family that listened?!?

[Parche]

7. Emergenc c Is the best

I havnt had a cold in 2 years

[jobycom]

8. Sounds like you are all unheatlhy and have weak resistance to disease.

Probably comes from hanging out on the Internet in total isolation for too long. The electromagnetic waves from the computer sap your strength, and the lack of exposure to even the most common germs makes you a bacterial pushover. Get you and the tike out more, you'll be healthier.

:hide:

[Orrex]

12. Come here, you!

I want to give you a big, wet, phlegmy kiss.

[jobycom]

27. Wait, let me get my shots

now, pucker up!

[Sequoia]

9. When my kid was in preschool I got sick from stuff I didn't know existed.

Poor babe would get lots of ear aches too. So much for breast feeding and how it's supposed to protect you child more than if you bottle fed him/her.

[Orrex]

20. I've heard that breastfeeding protects best during the very early years

But I hadn't heard much either way for toddlers, unless they're still breastfeeding, too.

But you're right about those weird, unknown illnesses. :puke:

[Sequoia]

41. Yes, by then she was drinking from a cup like the rest of us.

[applegrove]

10. When my parents were first married my father was sick for a full year with

various colds. See my mother was working in a hospital and had slowly become immune to various colds while my dad had to deal with what she brought home all at once.

I think you'll find once they reach a certain level of immunity..the colds will level off. Bad news is it may take a year. Good news is you want your family to have a robust and mature immune system.

[Orrex]

21. One guy at the bus stop is a day care worker

He usually carts two or three kids to the stop each morning and sees them onto the bus. He mentioned that, when he started at his job, he was violently ill for six months straight. After that it got slowly better, and now he hasn't been sick in like two years.

And what kills me is it's not like we're hermits. I mean, I go out among the living at least several times each week, so you'd think I'd have come across a fair cross-section of maladies. But whatever they're cooking up in Pre-K has punched right through my immune system like it wasn't even there.

Dammit!

[applegrove]

34. I know. You don't know how isolated you are until you have family in school or in a hospital. Or

taking an airplane.

[CharmCity]

11. Don't worry! It only lasts for a couple years!

One year, my daughter's teacher was an absolute nut about handwashing. The kids were in line constantly to wash their hands. It was a good habit she brought home. That year was pretty good...

[Orrex]

22. I've actually visited the classroom

One of those "sit in and observe" deals. The teacher is very cool, and she's pretty generous with the antibiotic hand lotion, but the kids must sneak out somewhere and breathe on each other, the disgusting little vermin!

[pokerfan]

31. I was just going to post on handwashing

Not much you can do about the airborne bugs but proper hand washing is the single most effective way to prevent the spread of communicable diseases.

http://dhs.wisconsin.gov/communicable/factsheets/Handwashing.htm

[femmocrat]

17. Teacher, here!

:hi: I've been pretty lucky so far this year, though. (knock wood)

I wash my hands so much that I have to get cream from the dermatologist to keep my skin from flaking off.

I blame parents who send their kids to school with head colds, strep, the flu, and other nasty maladies. Please, folks.... keep sick children at home!

[Orrex]

23. "Please, folks.... keep sick children at home!"

That's for damn sure.

Or at least have the decency to wrap them tightly in plastic before sending them to school.

[pokerfan]

32. That helps

but people are often contagious prior to becoming symptomatic.

[Orrex]

33. Spare me your witchcraft!

You're right, though. Therefore the solution is to wrap them in plastic prior to the start of the school year.

[pokerfan]

35. more prayer to cast out the disease demons

that or more hand washing...

[dawgmom]

25. My best friend says the same thing

See my post above. And hi!

[femmocrat]

36. Hi dawgmom!

:hi:

I like that plastic idea, actually! :rofl:

[dawgmom]

38. Plastic idea?

Hi. Sorry...plastic idea?

[RubyDuby in GA]

39. Exact same situation in my house since my son started daycare in July

He and I both have had a cough for about 2 months now. Wet, croupy kind of cough.
I'm pairing that with a nice sore throat right now.

I feel your pain (literally).

[redqueen]

43. Sounds pretty typical.

It'll settle down after a while... after he's been exposed to the most common bugs.

[Book Lover]

44. And so it begins

It fades away as the kids age and their immune systems develop. Right now, they're just little vectors, but soon enough their lymphocytes will start earning their keep.