I'm currently a mother of three kids, so I get that it's inconvenient to quarantine yourself when your kids are sick.  Having said that, though, I will also add that there is nothing that gets me fired up faster than when other mothers KNOWINGLY bring their sick kids to locations where other kids will be exposed to their icky sick germs.  That burns me up.

If you fall into this category, steer clear of me and my kids when yours are sick. I will not be nice to you.

It is one of the most inconsiderate things a mom can do to another mom. And her children.

There's a certain amount of trust that we moms have to be able to have with each other. Otherwise, not one of us would ever leave our houses. We have to trust that the honor code of "My kids are well and healthy" is being followed. It's a sign of utter selfishness to me when moms ignore this.  

I am not a germ-a-phobe because I know that our bodies have built in systems of immunity and antibodies that function quite well when our kids are fed healthy diets, allowed to get plenty of sleep and their bodies do what God designed them to do. I also believe that much of the overuse of hand sanitizers and antibacterials has led to an increase in allergies as our bodies search for ways to utilize those built in protective mechanisms. But why would I want to put myself and my kids through being sick when there's no need???

We get the occasional virus around here. Not that often. But as any mother who has multiple kids knows, if you do happen to get something, it doesn't just affect one child. It usually runs through each child.

Which brings me to my Quarantined Week.

Last week, I took the kids with me to my chiropractor visit (which is also the same office building as my midwife). This is a wonderful, very kid-friendly building with a great play section and my kids enjoy going with me. And since this is not a doctor's office, per se, where sick kids might get their germs all over the toys  (and no, I do not let my kids touch toys at a pediatrician's office), I let them play! 

This particular day, it was a few days before the 4th of July and there were these cute little American flags set out.  Of course my kids thought these were awesome and even took one home.  

Imagine my joy when I get a call from my midwife who happened to see Brooklyn walking out with a flag that had been laying in the kid's section. She informed me that a client of hers had come to her appointment with her actively sick daughter in tow. This daughter of hers had Hand, Foot, Mouth disease - which is a HIGHLY contagious virus - and had been playing in the kids section with the very toys (and the flag) my kids had been holding. My midwife was extremely apologetic, although it was in no way her fault! 

I look back to see Brooklyn with her finger in her mouth, gazing out the window innocently. In a split second, fury at this other mom surged through me! That's all I needed - 3 kids with Hand, Foot, Mouth virus. I started chunking wipes and hand sanitizer back to the kids like grenades (although I thought the ship had already sailed since B's hand was in her mouth...), and they obediently wiped themselves down as best they could under the eagle eye of their very irritated mother.

Sure enough, within 2 days, Brooklyn was running a fever of 102 with a really sore throat. This virus lasts 7 days and like I said, is really contagious. Dorien soon began running a fever with a sore throat too.  We've managed to avoid the mouth ulcers and rashes, but constant fevers and irritable kids is bad enough.

We have left the house only briefly and never when the kids might expose themselves to other kids. (This isn't something adults usually get). It's truly been a week of Quarantine. And we're ok, we're having fun here and I'm being productive and it's kind of nice not being able to go anywhere.BUT.

The moral of this story is this:

If your kids are sick, and you know they are, for the love of all humanity, please keep yourself away from other people!!!!! Ride it out in the loneliness of your house, it will pass! But whatever you do, don't knowingly infect other kids! Or you may become a pariah among mothers!!!!

Fair warning...