Sick, Sick, Sick to My Lou

Hey, cold and flu season!

Returning on a high from a birthday celebration in Hawaii, I woke up the next morning with a throat that felt like a scratchy, dry, hot air balloon. Body aches and head congestion, your standard cold.

I slept early, drank lots of liquids, Cold Eze, Epsom salt hot bath, bone broth, oregano oil, lemon, honey, garlic, reached out to my local shaman (just kidding… and I wonder if that would help?). Three days passed and no progress. I was desperate to recover for my birthday dinner with a group of mom friends on Wednesday night, planned over a month ago.

For any Bravo addicts out there, we had reservations at SUR (featured on Vanderpump Rules). How on earth did I find three fellow mom friends whose guilty pleasure is also Bravo reality? We were all very excited about this night.

Wednesday morning approached and I was still feeling out of sorts. I reluctantly sent a message to the group explaining my situation. I wouldn’t want to risk getting them or any of their babies sick.

As I sent the text, I thought of how some family members reacted to us protecting Julian from getting sick. Since he was a newborn, they’ve refused to wash their hands or insist they “just” washed them. They want to spend a lot of time with Jules but won’t get the vaccines his pediatrician recommends. They’ll literally be coughing in his face and insist they’re 100% healthy. My six year old nephew has better manners than family a few decades older, constantly reminding people to wash their hands before touching the baby. 

My mom-friends were sad to reschedule and as it turned out, one of them was sick as well. She and her baby got sick from their mommy and me group.

Here I am, canceling a birthday dinner planned for months at risk of spreading my sickness, while another mom brought her sick baby into a weekly baby meet up (the agreed rule in most baby groups is that you must stay home if you or your baby has been sick within 48 hours or is showing any sign of being sick).

I couldn’t have it on my conscience to pass along my sickness to any other adult – and especially baby. Have you heard what a sick baby sounds like?! And no, I'm not referring to a sick husband... hee hee hee.

From what I’ve seen, bringing a sick baby or adult into a baby meet up is a quick way to make a mom-enemy. My sister is so good about it, that she and her family didn't come to see Jules at the hospital because they were all very sick. 

In Japan, where my mom is from, sick people wear face-masks to protect others in public. I'd probably get strange looks if I did that here but that's some serious respect for the wellness of another. These are actually kind of cute, these look more serious, and then there are these (lol).

None of us like being sick -- and I get the FOMO part in wanting to continue to be active when we're cooped up while under the weather -- but let's practice what we teach our little ones. Let's wash our hands, use napkins, sneeze or cough into the inner crease of our elbows, don't touch our eyes/mouth/nose, use hand sanitizer... and wash our hands again. If possible, let's stay home to enjoy indoor entertainment until our symptoms subside, please. And if we must get out, let's tell those around us that we're sick, so they can choose to come in close contact or keep space.  

Stay healthy, mamas, papas and babies [insert praying/hopeful emoji here].