Monday, September 22, 2008

And so it begins...

As most of you know, I love winter. I love autumn. I love when the weather turns cold, and there's nothing better than a beautiful snowy day.

Having said that, I've had a shocking amount of fear about this winter. I've really not been looking forward to the end of summer. The problem is: germs. And my boys' ability to catch all of them. For the past two winters, we've had a tough run from about November until May, with all of us catching lots of colds, and croup, and ear infections, and pneumonia, and other yuckies. And that's with the boys home with me, without even having the exposure to a day care or other group of children germ factory.

But this year my boys are in preschool. Needless to say, I've been worrying about how bad the winter will be. The boys made it a week and a half, but today I didn't send them to school. On Friday afternoon, their noses started running, and it's continued all weekend. They definitely have colds, that they've since passed along to me. It's not a bad one. No fevers, not much coughing, pretty happy demeanor despite the cold. Just some stuffiness and lots of calls of "Mommy! I have BOOGERS!"

So while I'm glad this cold is mild, I'm still feeling a bit conflicted about this winter. I'm trying to hope for the best, and not borrow trouble, but I can't help but be worried about what this winter holds. I hope my fears prove groundless!

As an aside, for all you more experienced moms, when do you send your kids back to school? I kind of think my boys were probably okay to send today, even though their noses are a bit runny. But really, their noses could be runny for the next week or so, and with B-man's asthma, he'll probably develop a cough that hangs on for quite some time. So what's the rule on when to send kids back after a cold?

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Wow, did I get mixed reviews! I guess it confirmed my belief that we don't *need* an ipod. Having said that, I can see how it would be fun, as long as I managed to load my music on it. Yesterday, N-man was in a mood where he kept asking for songs from different CDs, so we had to play DJ for him. And I was like, "Hey, we need an MP3 player with a kids' songlist!" Who knows what we'll ultimately decide. We just may decide to get one of for Christmas/Hanukkah! Thank you all for sharing your opinions!

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8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ummmm, yeah, runny noses....they go to school. They only stay home for throw up and fevers. That's it. And my guys are asthmatic too. So what seems like a cough is really an asthma side effect.
Just make sure they get the flu shot. Washing hands washing hands washing hands. I cannot stress the washing hands enough!
The first year mixing w/other kids is usually the worst. Colds I'd take any day. It's the stomach bugs that drive me crazy!

LauraC said...

Yep, my boys go to school for colds. In day care, their noses run almost continuously from Oct-Apr. They only come home for vomiting and fevers. If they are acting very ill, then I'll keep them home too but colds barely phase them at all. In fact, they ask to wipe their own noses now. It is glorious!

Nancy said...

Great question. I sent the kids to whatever class they were in with runny noses and the teachers didn't glare at me or anything ;)

I think I read somewhere that they aren't "allowed" for 24 hours after a fever? something like that.

BTW - Mike and I started Firefly. I have to admit that for the first half hour, 45 minutes or so, we were both like - uh, this better get better. We realized that it was character/storyline building...but it just seemed to drag. And then BAM! We both realized why it's SO GREAT!!! Loving it :) It's a lot like knowing that your boyfriend is going away though, we're happy to have found this great show, but sad that we know it's ending soon...

Anonymous said...

I'm with the other moms. If I kept DD home with a runny nose, I'd never get to go to work ever again. Fever over 100 stays home, throwing up stays home, obviously contagious/running rash stays home.

I think that despite your rough winter last year, being in school will be great for them. They will get tougher. (I think they're probably NOT like you--weren't you sicker more for being near germs? I think they will be sick less for being near germs.)
(And to overuse the parentheses, I don't mean tougher as in "tough it out kid, when I was your age I went to school with whooping cough..." I mean tougher as in stronger immune systems...)

Anonymous said...

WOW, i ventured in to comment while bracing myself for the responses to my e-pinion and found, instead, that i am in wonderful company!

i sent sir snots-a-lot on his way just last friday as "we" only stay home with fevers, vomiting and contagious "stuff" as well.

i have found that the past two septembers H's daycare is fraught with colds as a result of all the older siblings going off to school and bringing home assorted germs. i just tell myself that it's going to happen sooner or later - hopefully we're strengthening his immune system and reducing the number of bugs he'll come down with when he starts school.

hey, a girl can dream, right?

Ronnica said...

Thanks for your sweet comment on the Book Nook! We're pretty fond of our site as well. =)

I'm not a mom, so I'll not comment on when I would send my imaginary kids to school.

Melodie said...

If it's just a cold (clear runny nose), and they are acting normal (not lethargic), then you should send them to school. If they have a fever, color to the runny stuff, or are acting ill, then you keep them home. Or if they vomit. Otherwise, it's off to school.

And definitely make sure they get their flu shots.

Ronnica said...

Thanks for all the comments at the Book Nook. It makes us feel good that people are actually enjoying our reviews! I don't know if you're interested, but we welcome new reviewers to join in on the fun. I totally understand if you'd like to stay a fan (we love those too!), especially with all the energy I'm sure it takes to mommy 3yo twins! Just let me know if you're interested and I'll hook you up.