are you kidding me.

I failed to mention in yesterday's post about our weekend events, that the kids ONCE again have picked up a virus. Quite frankly, I was too furious to even type the words "sick" or "virus". Are you freaking kidding me?!? They have been sick all winter!! We brought this lovely virus home with us from the pediatrician's office. A place that I honestly dread going. I love our pediatrician but very few doctors in this area have "sick" and "well" rooms. We are all forced into one main room and I know it is a melting pot of viruses and germs.

I also feel that for the majority most parents check their common sense at the door upon entering. If you're sitting in the office you too are obviously sick and who cares if my kid coughs, sneezes or licks their snot in front of you. (the last of course has me close to losing it.) This is one of my biggest pet peeves ever. If your kids are sick, please keep them away from mine. I would think it would be obvious I don't want whatever you are at the doctor trying to get rid of. I always take separate books and games for the kids to play with and we sit huddled in a corner anxiously waiting to get back to a sterile environment. They know when we walk into the office they are absolutely not allowed to play with the community toys and it is the one place they do not have to share.

Monday we sat in said corner for a well visit, when Chatty Cathy and her three sick kids came into the office. Chatty Cathy's are my absolute worst nightmare in a pediatrician's office. They talk your ear off listing all the reasons for the visit and let their kids take over the entire waiting room while they pretend not to see them. (Again, in my opinion a pediatrician's office is not a place to make friends.) I don't think Chatty Cathy came up for air until her youngest child tried to climb in the stroller with Will, coughing and sneezing all over him. Then she actually stopped talking and said "I bet you don't want us to share our germs with you." Seriously. If she was in close proximity like her child, it would have been difficult for me not to slap her. In the few minutes we were stuck in the waiting room, Chatty Cathy told me said children had fevers of 100 for two days, had really runny noses and a horrible cough. She thought they had a stomach virus. She is also going through a divorce, has 6 children and is having trouble potty training the 5, 4 and 2year old. Now, I'm no pediatrician but I'm pretty sure snot/cough does not equal stomach virus. And I'm also pretty sure that viruses can't be treated with antibiotics. Again, I'm not an MD. I do like to think I graduated from the school of common sense and a mere 48 hours is not going to get you the antibiotic you came for. Thank you for sharing your germs with the rest of us. I personally can't wait for my kids to be sick. Again.

Needless to say we went to the pediatrician's office finally healthy and 72 hours later developed 102 degree fevers, snotty noses and horrible coughs. Bella did not go to school on Friday and will be missing dance tomorrow which irritates me beyond belief. I'm not a perfect parent but I do try to make a conscious effort not to expose other children to our germs when we are sick. My only hope is that someday other parents, especially those in the pediatrician waiting rooms, feel the same.