It's winter, too cold to play outside and sick kids are all over the inside playgrounds... ugh.

[Anonymous]

My kids love Chik Fil A, and they're pretty much the only place that consistently has an indoor playroom. So I took them there as a treat tonight after a hard day of shopping (LOL!) as we were eating our dinners right by the door to the playground, out comes this little red chapped-faced toddler with bright green snot running profusely out of both nostrils and all over his hands. My face must have given me away because the mom shot me a go to hell look, and the dad quickly wiped a napkin across junior's nose like "where did this come from?". On their way out, they slapped a knit hat on him with the Jack Ass show logo. Nice. Very nice.

Meanwhile, I told my kids they could have any treat they wanted on the way home if they would just agree NOT to go into that playplace. Luckily, even the 3 y/o didn't protest too much. But I hate this time of year when everyone has the same idea to go to a mall or enclosed playground, healthy or not, and it's just a breeding ground for viruses/ germs.

As we left, I was watching other people with kids going in who were clueless about Vector Zero who likely spread some bug around in there 20 minutes prior.

[Anonymous]

We were at the playground today for about 30 minutes.

There were a few other kids there out having fun

[Anonymous]

id rather freeze then jin the germ fest indoors and my son doesnt complain about the cold I just bundle him well and with layers

[Anonymous]

I have such bad news for you about how germy outdoor playgrounds are.

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/OnCall/story?id=2859060

How germy could shopping carts really be? Very, according to researchers at the University of Arizona who tested all kinds of public surfaces. They found that shopping carts were loaded with more saliva, bacteria and even fecal matter than escalators, public telephones, and even public bathrooms.

The only surfaces that had more germs were playground equipment and bus rails.

[Anonymous]

I don't understand why people are so inconsiderate when it comes to allowing their sick children to play/interact with everyone else. Every time I take my child to the open play at our local community center, he ends up coming down with a virus a couple of days later. This past week he ended up with a fever of 104 in the middle of the night. There were several little children at the gym with very runny noses, hacking coughs, etc., so I am pretty confident that's where he got it from. There was one little girl with thick, green snot coming down her nose---and of course, my one year old totally put his hand in her face. I really wanted to ask the nanny why she decided to bring her when she was obviously very sick.

What do parents do in the winter to get their kids socialized/out of the house? Do you just accept the fact that your kid is going to get sick every week?

[Anonymous]

It's not too cold out if you bundle up. Kids needs some fresh air. Maybe they don't stay out as long. Cold air is not nec. bad for most healthy kids.

[Anonymous]

09:14 here. We do go outside when it's not raining or windy, but (not to hijack the thread), I guess my main question is why parents take their sick kids out where they can infect other kids? Even if we go outside, there is still a good chance that he could pick something up there if other kids are sick. Do you find that your child is less likely to contract a cold as he gets older? My son never got sick during his first year, but he's had two colds in the past month, since he has a lot more interaction with other kids now that he's walking. Maybe I will get used to it with time, but right now, I'm exhausted because I haven't gotten much sleep dealing with the fever/coughing/etc.!

[Anonymous]

OP, hate to tell you this but that indoor area was probably just as disgusting and germy even without the leaky kid. Those places are festering with germs. The table your kid sat at and touched was probably just as gross and full of germs. Imagine all the nasty germy people who sat there and ate through out the day. Gross.

[Anonymous]

I just look at it all as "building immunities

[Anonymous]

Oh whatever. Get over it, people. KIDS ARE SICK 24/7. And maybe it b/c of nasty little boogery people, but it the a-holes that sneeze and tough doorknobs. You just DON'T know where you get sick. You wash hands, try not to have pick their noses, wipe 'em up, and send them to chick fil a (which, ew gross to that. Is there anything nastier than a restaurant playground. Might as well lick the ground. Actually would be cleaner.)

POINT is, once you get more than one kid in your house, your ability to control this shit ends and you need to just DEAL. It will get better around April.

Everyone who is germ-a-phobe, stay home. Out nasty kids will keep re-infecting each other happily!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
What do parents do in the winter to get their kids socialized/out of the house? Do you just accept the fact that your kid is going to get sick every week?

I start off each winter not worrying about germs. Around about February after we've had one cold or virus after another for 6 weeks straight, I stop taking my kids anywhere in desperation.

Oh, about a week before Christmas, I remember not taking my kids out anywhere when they were little. I just was so sick of travelling and visiting relatives with sick kids.

[Anonymous]

there's no bad weather.

there's children not dressed propperly.

it's cold, put on a hat, scarf, gloves.

it's rainning, put on a rain coat, boots, unbrella... they love playing in the water anyway.

GO PLAY OUTSIDE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Anonymous]

to 13:01, maybe YOUR KIDS are sick 24/7. Mine is not. Nor are the kids of our friends. When our kids are sick, we keep 'em away from each other and show a little courtesy. I don't look at 24/7 viruses from Oct - April as "it is just the way it is." That's not the case.

Have a little courtesy to others.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:09:14 here. We do go outside when it's not raining or windy, but (not to hijack the thread), I guess my main question is why parents take their sick kids out where they can infect other kids? Even if we go outside, there is still a good chance that he could pick something up there if other kids are sick. Do you find that your child is less likely to contract a cold as he gets older? My son never got sick during his first year, but he's had two colds in the past month, since he has a lot more interaction with other kids now that he's walking. Maybe I will get used to it with time, but right now, I'm exhausted because I haven't gotten much sleep dealing with the fever/coughing/etc.!

I hate to break it to you, but your child probably gets sick from the kids that don't appear sick yet. You are the most contagious when you have the cold/flu usually before you even have symptoms. The kids with the runny noses are not the ones who are getting your kid sick.

Just think of it this way, your child is probably infecting and getting other children sick just as frequently as he is getting sick from other kids.

[Anonymous]

OP here, I have three kids from 13 to 3, so this isn't my first rodeo... My husband travels and it's just me (no family nearby) taking care of them. We make a concerted effort to stay healthy, and I see part of that is making sure I do my part to keep them home when they're sick. I've had teachers tell me to send my daughter to school despite her cough and dripping nose because everyone else already has it or is going to get it. WTH?

I realize you can't foretell an illness that hasn't hit yet, but your child is still infectious. This post isn't about that. It's just incredibly self-centered of the parents and not fair to the sick kid either, to take them out in public or on playgrounds. For starters, everyone else there WILL notice your sick kid and watch him/her come back to roost beside you. It's not unnoticed.

Then from a purely self motivated perspective, why don't these parents worry that their sick kid, whose immunity is already down, might pick up another bug from another sick kid who is at the playground? Strictly selfishly, their kid should stay home until he/she's feeling better just to avoid a tag team virus game.

I get to the point in the wintertime that I won't take my kids to the gym - - there are too many people there who don't see anything wrong with dragging a kid into the play area, touting a low grade fever and a soggy green nose and play dumb about it. If I get sick, there is often no one else in my house who can help the kids. It's not about total isolation, but I do choose to limit myself away from obvious vector points of high risk areas.

It's bad enough when your oldest starts school and begins bringing in new bugs daily. But diligent hand-washing and not sharing dinnerware/drinks/ etc helps a lot at home. I guess it's just a function of the way things are that some parents will take chances exposing other kids to their kids' bugs and not worry about it.