Being Around Sick Family Members/Children Around Holidays

[yourmother]

Was I rude? Or I guess a better question is, how do I handle this without coming across as rude?

I caught a bad cold at 9 weeks while I was around a family member's kid who was sneezing w/o covering their mouth.  This sickness was so bad and really freaked me out. I was sick for 14 days with lingering congestion in my ears for many weeks after. And I was advised to stay away from decongestants by a doctor I saw. So I was miserable.

I have been in contact with this family and have tried to keep my distance from the three kids since all of them have been battling severe coughs, strep, "allergies" for the last six weeks. One time recently, one of the sick kids came up to snuggle with me but I politely told them that I needed my distance because they were sick. One if the parents was in earshot and must have heard. I feel like I may have come across as rude. 

I saw saw another one of the kids in that same family with the same parent as above this week and that kid was coughing too. I stood across the room and wouldn't go near.

Am I being rude by keeping my distance? Am I offending the kids or their parents by letting the kids know I can't be close to them?  Am I just paranoid and making a mountain out of a molehill?

FTR - these kids are all under the age of 8.

[sapphireblue]

I don't think so. With a child who wants to snuggle, that's one where you'd want to be super sweet and loving but still maintain your distance.

I think people understand when they are sick that other people don't want to catch it. I don't think it is inherently rude to put some space between you and the sick person.

[starburst604]

I don't think it's rude. I'm suffering a weeks long cold right now and it sucks. However I'm still kind of relaxed about this kind of thing because I feel like colds are everywhere this time of year and kind of hard to avoid. Obviously I don't want someone climbing on me and coughing all over me, but I'm not going to avoid situations where there might be sick kids or people when I'm probably touching viruses everywhere I go in public. All I can do is wash my hands a lot, take my vitamins and pray for good luck!

At this point I think what I might have is an allergy because it's gone on for so long and I'm tired of people looking at me like I'm Typhoid Mary.

[noodleoo]

Ugh, that's a tough one. I am paranoid about getting sick and washing my hands like crazy and staying away from the sick people at work. Kids would be hard. I'd probably say something to the parents ahead of time and ask them to tell their children. My friends are really good about it though and would understand. Not everyone does. I think what you did was okay, I'd probably just make a point to mention it to the parents so they know why you are keeping your distance.

It sucks because some people don't get that 1) you can't take most meds while pg so being sick really sucks and 2) you don't want to risk any issues for your baby. Parents hopefully understand, the stupid people at my work are oblivious and do not. Grrr...

[kballerina]

Not rude at all. My coworker showed up sick to work on Friday and ended up leaving at noon. Thank goodness she went to her doc - tested positive for influenza A. I felt fine Friday but woke up this morning with a fever. Am now on Tamiflu and have strict instructions to head directly to the hospital with any fever greater than 100.4 or any increase in respiratory effort. Not pleased and wish I could have avoided her all day Friday. (And before anyone asks, we both received our flu shots beginning of October at work.) Don't subject yourself to possible illness just to be nice. It's not worth it.

[achi]

I vote not rude. A coworker of mine is just a handful of week ahead of me and she caught the office cold and has been sick for weeks. Meanwhile I've holed up in my office and have rescheduled meetings with anyone who was sick and have (knock on wood) managed to stay healthy. Do what you have to do.

[yourmother]

Dec 21, 2014 10:49:13 GMT -5 kballerina said:

Not rude at all. My coworker showed up sick to work on Friday and ended up leaving at noon. Thank goodness she went to her doc - tested positive for influenza A. I felt fine Friday but woke up this morning with a fever. Am now on Tamiflu and have strict instructions to head directly to the hospital with any fever greater than 100.4 or any increase in respiratory effort. Not pleased and wish I could have avoided her all day Friday. (And before anyone asks, we both received our flu shots beginning of October at work.) Don't subject yourself to possible illness just to be nice. It's not worth it.

Oh no! Gosh, I'm so sorry. I hope you're feeling better!

[azurely]

I don't think it's rude. I got sick with a cold/cough/sore throat around 30w and I was miserable for a good six weeks :/ being sick when pregnant is awful. Do what you have to do to take care of you.