Parents, Stop Sending Your Kids Out Sick
Not worrying about a common cold is a luxury
I n a month-and-a-half, there have been four COVID-19 tests taken in my household, one Urgent Care visit, four calls to a healthcare provider, one visit to the pediatrician, and a virus panel test run on my toddler. I beg of you, please stop taking your kids out sick!
I know sometimes these things are inevitable but smart and responsible parenting choices can also prevent it a lot of times. If your child has a runny nose, is coughing, has a fever, or showing any kind of symptom to suggest they are not on the up and up, keep them home. I know it’s hard and I know it’s not always easy if you have to work, but please try to find a solution that works for everyone, not just you.
Not Every Child Is Born The Same
My child was born with a compromised immune system, weak lungs and has had to fight his way back to health since the day he entered this earth. I have watched him struggle, near death, and now thrive. I would like to keep him on the thriving side of things. We are at home battling his third cold in the last month-and-a-half.
I get it, it’s just a cold to some, but not to us. After 615 days, doctors finally took my son off home oxygen. I want to keep it that way. I want to keep him healthy. This is not your responsibility but a kindness you can offer to parents like myself and others whose children were not born with the same immunity as most.
Practice Social Responsibility By Staying Home
I’m ready to climb the walls after being home for so long with him. We both need to get out. We both need some form of responsible socialization, but because he is sick, even with just a cold, I am keeping him home to save another family from this stress.
And I know things can be worse. Trust me- we have been there. We lived in the things are worse for more than a year and we are finally at a point where we can entertain living a “normal” life with this amazing little human.
A part of me is actually glad he got his first cold because it means his immune system is building up, but a different part of me is not happy he is getting sick every time we seem to leave the house lately.
Just Because It’s Not COVID Doesn’t Mean It’s OK
This started when we went to the park to swing. A woman with three very snotty and obviously sick children looked at me and said, “Oh, don’t worry. It’s not COVID.” I was in disbelief. Just because it’s not COVID doesn’t mean I want my child around it. Four days later, we were in Urgent Care with a toddler who had labored breathing being asked to take a COVID test. Thankfully, it was negative, but he was still sick with whatever it was those kids had.
I was born healthy. My mom used to sign me up for chickenpox parties intending to build up my immunity. I assumed I would be the same before my son was born. I now understand how much of a luxury this was and is. Not everyone’s child is born the same, not everyone’s child will fight common illnesses the same.
Listen, I get it, there’s always going to be germs, and he’s always going to get sick somehow, just like every other child. It would be nice, however, if we weren’t exposed to undeniably sick people every time we left the house. We can all still do our part and be responsible and show some empathy and keep our sick kids, and ourselves for that matter, home.
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Irene is a proud-preemie mama who left her work as a journalist to study for a master’s in the United Kingdom. She now lives in the United States with her Swedish husband and superhero toddler.
