Had family over today, and all the little ones were poorly

[brilliantjustbrilliant]

We had five under fives in the house today.

They were all under the weather - streaming noses, coughs, sneezing, temperatures. All brushed off by the parents as teething or just a virus. They were all timing the calpol doses so that the kids were on fine form at the start of the day but it soon descended into them all being clearly unwell, by which point all the parents had started to have a drink and therefore had to wait for the taxis. I volunteered to take them all home in pairs but they all said no, because the kids were “fine”.

argh I’m so angry. That’s the rest of this year and the start of next written off with another bug.

It is pretty simple though: if your child needs calpol, has a fever or has been sick, don’t take them to social events indoors without warning your host. Of course some children will be contagious with no symptoms / you can catch a bug anywhere / etc but that’s not an excuse to risk sharing an illness knowingly.

I feel like there is a divide between the « my children get bugs all the time, we still want to go out » and the « my children are rarely unwell, please don’t expose them to your germy kids ». I’m in the second group FWIW.

I always think the right etiquette is to message in advance and advise that you /your child is under the weather and let the host decide what they want to do

Really unwell I wouldn’t take them out. If they are playing and eating and it only descended into chaos in the late afternoon then that doesn’t sound like really unwell to me. That’s just small children.

Try not to panic. We were expecting to be super ill as I think they had flu a few weeks back but actually haven’t had much off them this year. You probably Won’t catch it. Just eat well and rest well.

I’m my child was as you said unwell and barely able to stay awake and relying on paracetamol I wouldn’t be going anywhere, never mind someone’s house. My DD had flu and was out the game for 2 weeks bed bound so although it’s just a cold to some people it’s not just a cold to others. X

That’s because you’re around kids 24/7. I’m not. I don’t have my own children.

I think the worst thing about COVID is that all the hypochondriacs now feel empowered and expect the rest of society to pander to their neuroses.

It's just a winter bug. You're not going to avoid catching it. Suck it up and deal with it.

No I genuinely think it’s because adults wash their hands! Hand hygiene goes a really long way.

I find this comment quite offensive to be honest. I have had colds. I do not object to them coming over with a cold. But a cold is NOT a fever and lethargy.

My parents and siblings arent around kids 24/7 though (they live far away, and siblings don't have kids). None of them have caught my DCs virus. I did postpone visiting them and offer not to come though - but they said they still wanted us to come. None of them got sick - kids genuinely have less developed immune systems and get sick when adults don't

🤷‍♀️

Some people visited your house and their kids had coughs and colds. You claim they're all timing Calpol doses and getting pissed immediately to somehow avoid leaving.

The parents said the kids were fine, but you, apparently, know better.

It seems like a big nothingburger, unless you're a germophobe.

I’d take the risk to see family unless there was summons immunocompromised.

Aw, that's really selfish of the parents @brilliantjustbrilliant ! I really hope you manage to avoid catching another virus when you've just got over the last nasty one.

I know that parents of young children have to accept that their kids might contract a constant stream of colds, flus, noro, covid, plus all of the childhood illnesses (slapped cheek, rotavirus) and nits/worms but that shouldn't mean choosing to expose all relatives/friends to the same illnesses!

It’s incredibly selfish behaviour but people do this all the time.
I don’t know what you can say in these cases because it would have caused upset to send the families home. But it’s wrong of them to do this to you

This isn’t true.

It doesn’t take a genius to know that a kid, on Christmas, who is falling asleep on a sofa isn’t well.

I can just imagine someone in plague times quoting shite like this
And parents saying "it's just a sniffle, we're still going to the next village to visit auntie Doris" ...
It's like a Monty python sketch!
I'm with you OP, so selfish of these parents to bring their blatantly ill children out. Stay at home if you're poorly (as evidenced by needing Calpol). Schools/childcare here insist on students staying home if they are sick.
Hope you don't catch it
Don't invite them next year (or don't bring out the wine until you know they're ok)

Some people seem to have dc who are always snorting and coughing and I think they honestly feel it is normal. Children do get bugs, but some get them more than others.

Totally agree. I have DC7, 4 and 1. Youngest started nursery a few months ago, you can imagine what the illnesses in our house have been (and continue to be) like this autumn/winter since.

That being said we would never go round to someone's house as you describe be it our self or a DC with the symptoms. Very selfish.

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 Absolutely ridiculous.

It's very worrying that these people are so unaware but have kids.

You need to stop hanging around the the shout at clouds types on Facebook dude. The whole flu isn't real it's just your body having a winter detox makes people look really cringy.

It’s rude and selfish of any parent to drag their kids out to a social event if they’re clearly too sick to move and need regular Calpol just to get by. A mild cold sure but this is extreme. Also more selfish in your situation with them knowing you have underlying conditions.

It doesn't take a genius to know that kids get up early on Christmas day to open their presents and then get to stay up way past their normal bedtimes playing with family and watching movies.

Of course, the only reason they might be tired the next day is because they're carrying lethal plague.

🙄

Dh family are like this it really winds me up. Even met up on a bank hol at a national trust (so packed) with a child with chicken pox!