Why do parents insist on taking their kids out when they are sick?
Published 1 year, 2 months ago in Kids stuff.The other day we went to Rare Bears - an indoor playground for kids. It is a great place to go and my kids thoroughly enjoy it. There is a contained area for kids under 4 with a good variety of things to do to keep them occupied for a couple of hours. There are also seats all the way around this area so parents can sit and supervise their children whilst they are playing. Outside the main play areas is a cafe/ restaurant.
While we were there I noticed a little boy no more than 2 1/2 with thick green snot running down his face. Every now and then he would wipe at it with his hands and in doing so smear it all over whatever he was playing with at the time. He was fractious and whingy and it was clear to me that he was not a well little boy.
Eventually this poor little chap took a bit of a tumble and became quite upset. He started calling for his mother who was nowhere to be seen. Eventually I could bear it no longer and I approached the little fellow and asked him where his mummy was, but he was not in any state to be communicative. I had to leave my kids to search amongst the parents in the cafe. I found his mother at the far end of the complex drinking coffee with a large, noisy group of mothers. Having alerted her to the distress of her child she came and stood by him while he played for about 10 minutes in an embarrassed sort of way and she was clearly more worried about what I thought of her as a mother than the actual well being of her child.
Her son simply should not have been there, he was sick! Two days later both my children had runny noses and so, much to my considerable annoyance, do I.
Aside from leaving her two year old unsupervised, I really feel that this woman could have forgone coffee with her friends until such time as her child was no longer ill and contagious. However if it was really too hard to stay at home with a sick little boy she could have been considerate enough to stay by him and wipe his nose occasionally to contain the spread of his germs a little.
Am I being unreasonable?
19 Responses to “Why do parents insist on taking their kids out when they are sick?”
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No Golden1, you are not being unreasonable but perhaps a tad over-protecting. The common cold virus has a billion strains. Adults actually have less colds than kids because we have built up an immunity to some. Kids ‘need’ to catch colds in order to develop some immunity. In simple terms, young bodies need contact with germs so that their immune systems can develop antibodies to deal with them. Research has shown that children from farming families have less allergies and the probable reason is the somewhat less hygienic surroundings, not in the home but where they play.
Having said that I still think that, given the circumstances, the mother might have given her offspring a little more attention. 2½ is a little early for self-empowerment.
Who can stop kids playing… my son was sick, I dropped into our G.P. with him and here was my son happy to play with the toys while he had a raging fever and had been vomiting. Mums & Dads have to think about what they are doing with their kids.
What about the kid who took weapons on a school camp so they could go shooting… what parents allowed that without the teachers knowing???
Thanks Dr Fell, I’m quite well acquainted with basic immunology. The fact that my kids overcame their runny noses after one day (much quicker than me and I’m a farmers daughter) tells me that their immune systems are in pretty good order without the added assistance of thick green snot.
That this child made us all sick, is however, an annoying side issue, but I’m almost certain no parent would regard the smearing of mucus on play equipment in the positive light of long term benefit.
My point is that this child should not have been there at all. He was quite obviously not well and his condition would almost certainly not be improved by being dumped in a draughty play area while his mother socialised with her friends.
Not at all… and I think your story relates just as strongly to grown ups - if one is sick with a bad cold or the flu, they should be allowed to stay home from work/school and get better rather than suffering on and spreading germs.
Getting a couple of colds over winter is pretty much unavoidable, but if more people stay home for a day or two to get over the worst of a cold, it is more pleasant for them and less people will get sick.
Although, I do agree with Dr. Fell… I’ve read there is a link between immune responses to childhood illnesses and the development of allergies… Still… green snot… Ew.
I”m with you Indi…….There are some selfish parents out there. I went out for tea with a friend the other night, who had a 3 year old. We got a table near the play room, so we could keep an eye on him. God knows where the other parents were. One child had downs syndrome and was about 11 or 12 and was hitting the children……clearly needed to be supervised. One group of little boys had pack mentality and were karate kicking everything in sight.. One even had the cheek to ask me If I had any money for the machine he was practising his round house kicks on. When I told him NO, he told me to go and look in my bag then. Needless, to say, I didn’t enjoy my dinner as we were up and down, to go back and forth in the play room, to supervise not only my friends child. I think some Mummies, need to learn mummy etiquette.
a runny nose that is clear is normal - lots of kids have runny noses for no reason at all, but a green snotty nose and a lathargic child obviously means the child is sick and should be at home.
I can understand a mother not wanting to give up her time with friends, who knows it may be the first time in weeks that she has been out, but she should have at least kept her son with her away from the other children while providing adequate supervision. I’ve never been to one of these play centres but I’m sure that the staff are not responsible for the total supervision of the children who are at play there.
I always watched ours play when they were that little, because it really doesn’t take much for a little one to get hurt or upset (I still watch them 6 and 9yrs). As far as keeping kids home when they’re sick, I kept mine at home for few days if needed before school age when they were sick. Now both of our kids are at school it’s hard to keep them home when sick and really there’s no point since everyone else (including the teacher) is sick throughout Winter here. They just have to stay home if they have a fever or really bad asthma (as our son gets in the cold sometimes). I know what you mean when you talk about watching a child wipe their snot everywhere, it’s not a good sight and even worse when your own children are playing there too. I hope you all feel better soon.
Kids can hang out wherever their parents like - really selfish attitudes on display.
Just leave the coffee out of it!
Trouble is there are too many dumb “F” selfish “parents”. I don’t know why these people breed when they havn’t got the intellegence and/or are too lazy, self centred, irresponsible to adequately fulfil the parenting role.
May have said this before, but it is so true.
Currently, it is a matter of record that 70% of the population are somewhat thick.
Think about the sun newspaper. Consider how intelllectual it is- it aint. However, it caters to the masses that are thick. This is why more people read the sun (14 word per sentences compared with the age 25 words per sentence)
Sadly the (if i can be uppity) 30% minority of the population who are not thick, are ruled by the majority who are.
Needless to say, 7 out of 10 people you come across, are apathetic, lacking in commonsense, or have an incredible sense of ME- the only thing that matters is me.
Obviously, this rule does not apply to nooksters, and of course, anybody i know- phew, got out of that one.
cheerio
shadowmaster
I am with you Golden, I am careful to keep my kids home when they are sick - not only is it unfair to share every virus and bacteria with everyone you know - but sick kids at kinder, school and public play areas are more likely to pick up everything else that is going around on top of what they already have. My friend is an ambo and he has never been so sick as when his 2 yr old started childcare! I’m all for strengthening immune systems but it’s nice to spend most of the winter months without a cold if you can manage it.
Yes shadowmaster - the old adage has been that if the Sun is for people who can’t read, then the Age is for those who can’t think. Yes those 25 word sentences are full of opinion!
I mostly read the extras - so much so that my small son brings the paper in, shakes it for the GW or Sunday Life, etc., hands these to me and the main paper to my husband. How’s that for typecasting!!
gadfly, do you mind if i steal that quote and use it.
cheerio
shadowmaster
an oldy but a goody shadowmaster - from one thief to another, steal away! No idea of the origin.
Hang on, in writing circles, this is known as research…
cheerio
shadowmaster
yes, but on nook there are no requirements for attribution - that’s why my nook comments list is much longer than my research publication one!!
Shouldn’t we all be more concerned that a toddler of 2 1/2 years was left unattended to the point where the irresponsible parent was not even aware that her child was distressed?
why do people insist on have children?
I too have witnessed distressed children at our local indoor play centre while mothers, even once aware, don’t always appear overly concerned. I believe it is a case of familiarity breeds a lackadaisical attitude, the kids will always bounce back from an injury. I had to point out to one mother that it was two other boys kicking the little girl in the head in the inflatable castle, that had made her so distressed, not anything she’d done!