*Cough* *Cough*
*Sniff* *Sniff*
*Cough* *Cough*

Ah, the sounds of the season. Cold and flu season, that is. As parents try to cover up their sick child by saying, “It’s just allergies”, or “He/she is teething”, truth be told, your kid probably has a cold. Dun dun duuuuun! Lock the doors! Bolt your windows! God forbid you take your cold suffering child out in public. What will the neighbors think?

Don’t mind me, I’m just a working parent with kids in daycare and school, currently dealing with the shunning that comes to cold suffers. I’d like to think I run a tight ship; but in reality, I think at least one of my sails is not tied down properly. I’d call a repair man, but I have a cough – and I’d hate for him to catch my cold. Then again, I send my kids off to school and daycare when they have a cold, so I suppose I could invite the repair man onto this laden ship.

I think I will attached a scarlet colored letter ‘C’ on my chest and the chests of my boys, letting the world know we have colds. Better yet, just for me, I’ll attach scarlet colored ‘B’ and ‘M’ letters on my chest for ‘Bad Mom’; yeah – BM – I’m sure that would go over well.

Before I go too far on my rant (or have I already reached that point?), I’ll share some verbiage I found on WebMD:

“A little sniffle. A slight cough. “I don’t feel good,” says your child. Should this kid stay home, go to school, or go to the doctor immediately?

Usually, if your child has cold symptoms, the deciding factor is whether she has a fever too, experts say. If there’s no fever, it’s probably just a cold. So long as your child feels pretty healthy otherwise, it’s fine to send her off to school.

Children with bad coughs need to stay home and possibly see a doctor. It could be a severe cold or possibly bronchitis, flu, or pneumonia. But when the cough improves and the child is feeling better, then it’s back to school. Don’t wait for the cough to disappear entirely — that could take a week or longer!“

This BM has no intention of keeping her kids out of school or daycare, while they battle their colds and are free from fevers or other infections. A cold is not also known as ‘common cold’ because it is some rare and deadly virus. Though I do understand, a common cold can lead to more serious illnesses such as croup. Croup is not a friendly virus. Croup is down right scary, and it is something my family has dealt with on several occasions. Rest assured, if the croup cough is heard, we take steps to isolate our kids from others. But a cold? Buckle up Betty, because my kid is going to daycare/school, and he may even sit by your child. Mwahahahahaa

And don’t waste your time asking me where I think my child found this lovely rhinovirus (or other cold virus). This BM is not on a mission to find the source of the virus. A wise teacher once told me, trying to pinpoint the source is like going on a witch hunt. Germs and bacteria are all around us. If the mail person is sick, she can transfer her germs onto the mailbox handle and the mail itself. If the UPS man is sick, he can transfer his germs as he smiles and passes you your latest purchase from QVC. And, let’s not even think about the grocery stores. Face it. You are surrounded. Surrounded. You should probably just stay in bed and keep your kids in their room.

Perhaps we could all travel in zones, just like airports have zones for various modes of transportation.
The Green Zone is for the healthy people of the world, who carry no bacteria, viruses or germs: Please breathe freely in the Green Zone.
The White Zone is for the people of the world who carry bacteria, viruses or germs. Please do not breathe in the White Zone.

(God help the person who is on the moving sidewalk in the Green Zone, when they cough or sneeze.)

My apologies if I sound cranky. It’s probably just allergies.