Little white pieces of paper

As the end of the school year draws near, I am looking forward to one thing in particular: I expect the number of exposure notices to drop significantly. We all know about the lice notices, it seemed like I was receiving one (or causing one to be received by others) every few days for months. But I didn't tell you about the others that have been regularly rolling in: pink eye (which she got), scabies (which she didn't), strep throat, hand, foot and mouth disease (isn't that for farm animals?), impetigo and scarlett fever. Just so you know how grossly misinformed I am, I thought scarlett fever was a serious disease. It's not. It seems that I'm confusing the colors of my fevers.

When Cassandre was little I shrugged off these notices. She almost never got sick and over time I just chalked them up to cya on the part of the school. Recently, however, I've developed a fear of the little white notes and the maladies they represent. Our battles with lice (won, I think, she said knocking on wood) and encounter with pink eye, and having met the classmate with scarlett (not yellow) fever, have resulted in me not being able to shake the warnings off the way I could before.

I expect the number of notices to drop, but not to stop. You see, I'm sending them to french camp, at the french school and the same rug rats they hang out with today are the ones they'll be running around with tomorrow. Except that since it's "camp" (and I don't mean that the way the Nazis did even though it is at school and some of you might not think that is very camp like...) anyway, I was saying that since it's camp she'll also get exposed (ha ha) to a whole new set of mystery dates. Kids who come in for two weeks and never come back.

It seems that not everyone needs day care the way I do and many parents actually keep their kids home during the summer. Or send them to real camp, or even sleep-away camp. I loved sleep-away camp. It was my first experience getting away from home and tasting independence. Of course I was horribly shy and it took me practically the whole summer to warm up to people (yes, I was that girl, the one you think is a total bitch until you realize she's just shy) but sleep-away camp is where I learned to ride a minibike, flirt with boys and steer a canoe - all very valuable life skills.

But I digress.

My girls are too young for sleep-away camp and they need to keep up with their French language skills over the summer so they don't fall behind. Plus, french camp is fun. No really. It's just like regular day camp but in another language, full of games, field trips, pools and running around. I wish I could go.

Really I wish I could go to sleep-away camp.

I got another notice today, this one for Roseola Infantum: here is what it said, italics are all mine.

What are the symptoms? Fever (often high) and a red, raised rash.
How is it spread? Direct contact with the mucous or saliva from the nose or throat of an infected person. And this is how you know we're dealing with kids. No matter how much I love you, if you are over five feet tall there is just no freaking way I am coming into contact with your sickly mucous membranes. 
When do symptoms start? 5 to 15 days after exposure to the virus. Good, because there's nothing I enjoy more than waiting for fever and a red, raised rash.
Need to keep the child home? No. Unless child is unable to participate in activies. Hello ground control, are you kidding me? I mean isn't that why you're sending this freaking notice home to me in the first place? Because some kid got sick and got dropped at school anyway?
Return to school/childcare? Children may return to school/childcare after fever disappears. Or when you have given them so much motrin that no one can tell that they're sick anymore.

Oh right, like you've never done that.

 

Comments

[The K Spot]

I swear I don't know if children are just more disease prone - or if schools were just more lax back in the day - but it seems crazy/scary how many germies are out and about these days!
I am so jealous about french camp!

[LaidOutInLavender]

I have heard so many lice stories lately! My niece has had them off and on since November! They are becoming drug resistant.I worked at a preschool and hated it when the toddlers came off of their tylenol and started the fever. CRANKY! and cranky toddlers bite. I was never so sick as those 5 years I worked with children. Now I have an immune system of steel! Haha!

[AshbyChick]

French camp - sounds fun!I always thought that roseola thing was for wee little kids - like 2 and under. My friend's kid had it recently.
I hope your kids have a great time this summer! (and stay healthy!)

[Austin1234]

We need a sleep away camp for adults....complete with counselors and booze.

[karen]

i think it has more to do with awareness, and sometimes i think we are becoming too aware. at times these notices make me downright psychosomatic - and before you know it i'll have munchhausen by proxy.

;-)

[karen]

this is the worst. as much as i have been tempted to send them off with a little motrin, knowing that they will be sick, wretched little creatures when i get home from work is usually enough to prevent it.

[karen]

i thought roseola was for little ones too, and that's what the books say, and yet juju's schoolmate got it.
go figure.

[karen]

sign me up
i'll pay just about anything.

[LaidOutInLavender]

Hahah! Usually a call to the parents at work saying their child had a fever and needed to be picked up early did it. The are wretched little creatures when the are sick too!

[saabnet]

[this is good] Been reading all about all these things in numerous books. Baby Lily (aren't girls just the best!) arrives later this month.-Scott

[karen]

Oh, you did not just announce your baby onmy blog!
You kill me.
Perhaps you'll throw me another bone or two in the way of information...?

Spinning with joy for you, of course. :-)

[saabnet]

Check out my blog for more info. Our other friend is going to be a dad too come September... but you probably knew that already.

[karen]

please point me to your blog, i can't seem to remember the address.
and no.
of course i had no idea that mr. secret service i'd tell you but then i'd have to kill you was going be a father. i need more info!