Possible pox and children's party!

[needahandholdpls]

Bit of a frantic post here...

My twins are due to have their 3rd birthday party next weekend. Have invited most of their preschool class to attend, paid the entertainer, booked hall, paid for decorations etc...

Yesterday, one of the twins started coming out in spots. Initially didn't worry too much, assumed he had gotten hot from running around or something similar. Neither have shown any signs of illness.

I had thought both twins had chickenpox a year ago as they were both covered in spots and I went through a week of "usual symptoms" with them before the pox disappeared. But looking at photos online, this looks like pox. So far, twin 2 isn't showing any spots but I know that they are likely to catch it now.

My dilemma is... assuming that my twins go through this next week with pox, and they all scab over etc...do I cancel the party? Or do I message all of the parents and inform them, giving them the option as to whether to bring their children to the party or not. I know that pox has done the rounds at the preschool lately, and there are older children who attend so there's a good chance many of them will have had pox already.

Arrrrrgh... timing couldn't be worse! Wisdom needed, please 🙏🏼

My dilemma is... assuming that my twins go through this next week with pox, and they all scab over etc...do I cancel the party? Or do I message all of the parents and inform them, giving them the option as to whether to bring their children to the party or not.

If it's all scabbed over I think it's a bit of a non-issue. You could send a message in case there's a pregnant woman who wants to be more cautious. But if it's genuinely all scabbed over to the point that you'd be able to send them back to nursery, I don't see that you'd need to cancel.

But I think it's more likely that if twin 2 catches it, they won't be all scabbed over by next weekend anyway. But maybe they did have chickenpox last year, and twin 1 is just horribly unlucky to catch it twice, and twin 2 won't get it again.

I had chicken pox 4 times as a child (yes, 4 times, paediatrician confirmed 😩). It’s possible that’s what this is and they already had it, or it’s the first time. Or it could be something else entirely. My son came down with obvious looking chicken pox. And then 48 hours later, they were all gone. 🤷🏻‍♀️ No idea what they actually were.

I would hold tight for now and keep at least the spotty one home. It will be obvious by tomorrow or Tuesday and then you can notify everyone.

Realistically, no, they will not be finished by next weekend, especially if the second has yet to start (that may not happen for another 3 weeks, or could be Wednesday). I think if one has them, you have to cancel. I’d be pretty miffed as a parent at someone still trying to get a party out of us with their poxxy child.

The socially acceptable thing to do is to re-schedule and explain why. No one will be upset (except you and your dc) and people will do their best to make the re-scheduled party.

My daughter broke out in chicken pox 2 days before her birthday party. I just rescheduled it. Children party vender's are very understanding generally. I didn't lose any of my deposits. If you're going to lose money you could just inform people and let them make the decision but it won't be much fun if one or both of the kids feel grotty.

@mindutopia thanks for this- from what I recall (it was all in the hazy days of having two 1 year olds!) their first pox were fairly mild... so I do wonder if they might not have built up immunity from it. Sorry to hear you've had it 4 times!

Twin who has it does appear to pick up more bugs than the other twin and be more susceptible to illness (they were premature and are usually very healthy but I notice twin 1 does pick up more than the other)

I am hoping it may be a post viral rash of some kind and hoping it may improve in the coming hours!

I agree re people not wanting to bring children to a party where pox might be present, I know I wouldn't. Good to know that children's party vendors are usually very understanding @Wigglywoowho - I will reach out to them to see what options are to reschedule.

Thanks @KoalaCalledKevin for your advice too!

Can I borrow some parenting/carers wisdom on this thread please... I'm wondering if this could be HFM and not chicken pox? No signs of itching. Some spots on back and torso but seems to be localised mainly to face, nothing on the hands, yet...