When people bring there sick kids around yours...

[leighi123]

Today ds had his science class which he loves. There are triplets (BBG) who attend the class too and today they were late. One of the boys looked AWFUL and was kinda crying as his mom brought him in. The other 2 sat with all the kids and joined the class, but this one sat with his mom kinda moaning/crying.

A little while later he was kinda coughing in a weird way and told his mom his throat hurt. And then 2min later he starts puking. EVERYWHERE. A few of the dad's got up to help and one handed over his baby's receiving blanket to wipe up (he brings his 5month old in the carseat and she stays in there the whole hour class), the other dad got wet-wipes and wiped the kid up, and the science teachers assistant got a mop. It was a mess. ewwwww!

Then instead of taking the kid home, she just sat back down with him. Her other son was also acting like he was either getting or getting over something -not participating like he usually does and just kind of sitting there, and then he went and sat on his mom's lap too.

I was kinda pissed off - I mean it must suck to miss something b/c 1 out of 3 kids are sick, and I dont have an issue with kids joining in if they are still happy/able to participate and just have something minor (cough, cold). But puking everywhere is just gross. We are leaving for a trip friday and I dont need my ds sick! He has a shot immune system to begin with b/c of his allergies, but I dont want to keep him home b/c of someone else's kid.

Should I talk to the mom? The teacher? Say nothing? WWYD?

[zebra15]

I dont like it either but honestly there isnt much you can do. There are sick kids everywhere, the grocery store, the park, the library and you just dont know it. Plus the incubation period is probably over (that most likely was last week). Kids get sick FAST, he could've been fine when they left the house and wham when they got to class he was sick. Maybe the combo of breakfast and the drive threw off his tummy. Maybe it was eating in the car.. who knows? Was it the flu or carsickness?

Seasons are changing and kids are going to be sick more often. Right now my own homeschooler has an eye infection and strep. He doesnt go anywhere but a friends house a few hrs a day (no classroom) so where the heck he got sick from is a mystery. So we are hanging out at home. But he was at the friends house all last week and monday this week before I got the dx so techincally they are exposed I guess.

But I wouldnt' say anything to the mom- Im sure she feels bad enough about the puke and all. However I am a bit surprised she didnt take puke kid and go sit outside or something. I wouldnt mention it to the teacher, Im sure she is aware of the situation. This stuff happens, kids are germ magnets.

[grumpybear]

I would be ticked off too.
I would probably talk to the teacher and ask to be clarified on what the policies are regarding sick children.

And while I agree that you can catch germs anywhere, there's no denying the fact that the mother was highly inconsiderate to both her children and the general public by taking out an obviously sick and contagious child.

If my child seemed well and then deteriorated through the course of the day, I would be promptly taking him home after the puking (if not earlier).

[leighi123]

The fact that he was obviously miserable, his brother looked like he wasn't feeling so hot either, AND that she didn't take the poor kid home after he got sick and was crying to leave were what bothered me.

I am not a germaphobe and understand that germs are everywhere, but for me, the puke is just too much.

He looked awful right when he got there, and is usually a happy, active kid, so it was pretty obvious that he was pretty sick before they showed up. That and they were late, they are usually early

[purplepaperclip]

Yeah, I'd be pissed.
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[pianojazzgirl]

I'm with you OP. I'm not a germaphobe either but I think that mama was remiss in her duties (to her ds and everyone else) by not keeping him home or at least taking him home after he had been vomiting and then crying to leave (!). That's just over the top. I send my kiddo to school with a cough or cold as long as she's "ok" and can participate and have fun. I would never send my child to any kind of class or activity if she was throwing up. I'm assuming it was gastro (since you mentioned one of the other triplets seemed either getting over it or coming down with it). That's so contagious and so miserable (WAAAAAY worse than a cold IMO). Pretty inconsiderate to bring that sick kid around other kids, and not very sensitive to him to not keep him resting at home.

[MissLotus]

It was cruel of the mother to make that child sit there when he was so miserable and sick. There is no excuse in the world for that. And someone that doesn't even give a crap about their own kid isn't going to give a crap about anyone else, either - germs, or what have you.

Such negligence makes me crazy. That poor kid. I'm surprised no one gently suggested to her that maybe he needed to go home!

[mommariffic]

I will admit, I get ticked when parents bring SICK sick kids out. I mean sniffles are okay, but my thoughts are that even if it's a bad cold kids should be home resting/drinking tea and letting their little bodies rest.

[leighi123]

Originally Posted by MissLotus

Such negligence makes me crazy. That poor kid. I'm surprised no one gently suggested to her that maybe he needed to go home!

Besides me, it was just dads there, I dont think either one of them was focused on the kid, they were just impressed by the amount of puke
I myself am not one to speak up, and no offense but I am not going to jump up and clean up someone else's puke, I would have puked myself!

I think I will talk to the instructor next week, and just mention that if a kid is sick enough to not enjoy the class, they should be home in bed for the kids benefit. Poor little guy! (btw the triplets just turned 4, my ds is 3, and the other kids in the class are 4 and 5, so these are young kiddos!) And the class is $5/week/family, so its not like missing one class is wasting $$

[philomom]

That is so wrong!

[ChetMC]

Nothing

Personally, I would do nothing. I'd feel bad for the sick kid. I'd wonder what put the mom in that situation. I would not complain (though, in the interest of full disclosure, our kids don't get sick much, and I might feel differently if they caught every single thing that went around).

As someone with four kids I have often decided that the sick kid can sleep in the stroller as well as they can sleep at home, and the healthy kids will leave the sick kid alone if they are busy and engaged. I'd never do this expecting the sick kid to projectile vomit all over the place, but I've definitely taken a sick kid out expecting them to sleep in a stroller or carrier and to have no actual contact with anybody else.

I have had things come on suddenly or worsen significantly after we left the house. As well, I've been stuck places with kids and not been able to leave because DH had the house key and I had to wait until he got home, DH was picking us up, I needed to wait for a bus with hourly service, we had to stay out of the house because we had somebody working on it, I had to meet somebody, etc.

Our six year old actually threw up at school in September. The school called to, "let us know". DH was surprised that they didn't demand that we pick DD up and take her home. They said that she seemed fine though, and it was just an FYI call. I expect that she threw up from nerves, or motion sickness from the bus, but I thought that all schools had a no puking or diarrhea for 24 hours rule.

I only mention this because we were really surprised that she didn't have to leave the school, but we just moved to Quebec. Maybe it's a cultural thing. Lots of stuff bothers english people that the french don't seem to care about.

If it makes you feel any better, all of the nasty stuff I can think of that causes vomiting is spread by contact... it's not air born.

[BarnMomma]

Originally Posted by grumpybear

I would be ticked off too.
I would probably talk to the teacher and ask to be clarified on what the policies are regarding sick children.

And while I agree that you can catch germs anywhere, there's no denying the fact that the mother was highly inconsiderate to both her children and the general public by taking out an obviously sick and contagious child.

If my child seemed well and then deteriorated through the course of the day, I would be promptly taking him home after the puking (if not earlier).

YES.

And the reason there are sick kids everywhere is because there are inconsiderate parents everwhere who drag their sick children out when they should be home resting and getting better. Sorry if this is harsh but I just endured a similar experience as OP and I was livid. I NEVER drag my kids out when they aren't well and I always alert other moms (playdate etc) if I suspect illness to see if they want us to stay home.

[abeliamama]

Originally Posted by leighi123

Then instead of taking the kid home, she just sat back down with him.

This part, I don't get. Maybe she thought he was feeling better or thought he was just tired, but once he puked, GO HOME!

[purplepaisleymama]

This would make me nuts, our youngest spent last winter with a mask on when we were out of the house in an effort to keep him healthy for the winter.....we were stared at, asked what he had and people were rude about us bringing a child out who make others sick!!!! Our son has an immunity issue and he was the one at risk of getting sick.....but that didn't stop people from jumping to conclusions and making rude comments that he and my other children could hear. Too bad someone else didn't avail this woman with a little of what we dealt with over the winter.

I know that we are in the minority with our avoidance of sick but since the last 4 years of his life we have dealt with him being sick almost every day of the winter. I don't usually mind colds but the stomach stuff is horrible when you have a bunch of kids.....either everyone gets it at once and we only have 1 bathroom...ick! Or they all get it but a day or two apart so it lasts for more than two weeks. I am not ok with people going out with a visibly sick kid.....though I will say that our youngest also has severe allergies and if they are bad enough vomiting can happen so he would not be contagious but would still appear very sick. In that case though he is having a severe reaction and we would not stay at a public place unless it was completely avoidable.

I know that people have to continue with life if their kids are sick, but after dealing with the horribleness of a really sick kid who catches everything I really wish people would think about the people they are putting in danger.....immune suppressed, cancer patients, chronic disease patients when they go out with a kid who is sick.

[eclipse]

When I first started reading, I thought maybe the mom thought he was just under the weather, but he started getting worse on the ride there and as he sat in class and she decided to try to ride it out so the other kdis wouldn't miss their class. The fact that she just sat back down with him after he threw up, though - that's a little baffling. At the very least, I can't believe she didn't just take him outside until the class was over.

[Storm Bride]

I agree witht everyone else that the mom shouldn't have brought her kids. That little boy was much too sick to be out. It sounds as though she didn't want the other kids to miss the class, and didn't have a sitter (I've been stuck on that one before), but a child who is that sick shouldn't be out. Even if she didn't realize at first, I can't wrap my mind around the fact that she kept him there after he threw up. That's just messed up.

Originally Posted by mommariffic

I mean sniffles are okay, but my thoughts are that even if it's a bad cold kids should be home resting/drinking tea and letting their little bodies rest.

This kind of makes me laugh. I can keep my kids home if they have a bad cold. But, they're not going to be resting/drinking tea. They're going to be tearing my house apart. If dd1 or ds2 is sick enough to be willing to rest, the issue of taking them out just isn't going to come up, short of a medical emergency (for them or someone else). In general, if they have a cold, I let them out if they want to go out, because they're going to wear themselves out, regardless of whether they're inside or outside, and I think the fresh air is good for them.

[Storm Bride]

Originally Posted by eclipse

When I first started reading, I thought maybe the mom thought he was just under the weather, but he started getting worse on the ride there and as he sat in class and she decided to try to ride it out so the other kdis wouldn't miss their class. The fact that she just sat back down with him after he threw up, though - that's a little baffling. At the very least, I can't believe she didn't just take him outside until the class was over.

This, exactly.

[Storm Bride]

Originally Posted by purplepaisleymama

...I really wish people would think about the people they are putting in danger.....immune suppressed, cancer patients, chronic disease patients when they go out with a kid who is sick.

Many people can't consider it, because they don't know about it.

[Storm Bride]

Originally Posted by BarnMomma

And the reason there are sick kids everywhere is because there are inconsiderate parents everwhere who drag their sick children out when they should be home resting and getting better.

My kids have been sick, off and on, since the beginning of September. I have yet to identify the source of any of the bugs that have gone through the house. There are sick kids everywhere, because there are sick kids, everywhere, and they're often contagious before they show any symptoms. We have a neighbour whose kids go into "lockdown" (their word) as soon as they show any signs of being sick. They're sick just as much as my kids are (and are often in lockdown before my kids are showing any symptoms, so it's not like they're getting sick because of my kids). Sure, it's considerate to keep visibly sick kids at home, but kids are going to be sick, either way.

The reality is that kids are exposed to a lot of people, directly or indirectly, who are carrying bacteria and viruses around with them. The source(s) of the bugs we've had in the last month could be the neighbourhood, ds1's school, dh's workplace (or the bus, though he usually cycles), the grocery store, any of the various places we've gone for field trips, etc. But, I really haven't seen too many visibly sick people in any of those places (and I suspect ds1's classmates will happily stay home if they have something).

[Latte Mama]

Ugh, people like this mom really cheese me. Poor kid. I know when I am feeling all pukey I just want to be HOME.