As the little guy still had a bit of a fever today, he was not having a ton of fun, and was definitely in no shape to meet any of his friends.  A few of the other kids we know are also having a fever.  Here we come across another “difference in parenting style.”  Let me explain:

I ran into one of my friends who has a feverish child yesterday, and she said, “our doctor is not a big fan of keeping kids away from others when they are sick, so we will still get together if you want to, so they can play.”  Hmmm.  Ok?!  So it’s ok for your kid to get my kid sick?  Weird.  Selfish.

Our opinion is a bit of the opposite: if the little guy is sick, let’s not let him get other kids sick.  We will still do things with him, and still go places with him, but there is no reason to have him around others who could catch what he has.

I guess this is something we will run up against time and time again as we go forward with parenting.  It’s not that kids get sick that is the hard part for us, it’s that other parents almost willingly get other kids sick.  To me that is not necessarily the greatest thing to do to others, but I guess it is not always a conscious choice that is made, or one that is made maliciously.  

Maybe just “think about others” is a good way to walk forward as a parent of small children – it can work in a variety of scenarios, not just regarding sickness 😉