Friday, August 30, 2019

Back to school germs

When my son was a baby in daycare, every time he was exposed to new infants, he would get sick. This, of course, meant that my husband and I would get sick. New room, new germs, new illness. The cycle continued for years.

By the time he started Kindergarten, I felt that my son had a strong immunity. I figured he had plenty of exposure to other children and new germs at that point. I don't know if that was really true, but I do know that he didn't get sick that year.

I am still mindful that going back to school includes a high likelihood that my son will either get sick or bring home a virus that takes my husband or I out of commission for a few days. It's just one of those things that we expect. In our household, we continue to focus on things like hand washing and not sharing items with someone who is sick - the basics.

What I find interesting is that every parent I talk to has learned that back-to-school may mean back-to-being-sick at some point early on in the school year, but researchers have a hard way of proving that we are all correct. It's hard for them to figure out if your child is a carrier or not for an infectious disease. (Well, at least it is hard to figure it out until you get sick and your child then tells you that someone they were playing with at recess a few days ago is also out sick.)

I figure that my son will probably be ill at least once a school year. And that means I'll probably get it, too. Having that mindset makes it easier to deal with when it does happen, and it becomes a pleasant surprise if we've managed to stay healthy all year long.

How many times during the school year does your child get sick? Talk about it in the comments.

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