A few weeks ago, I caught the tail end of a friend’s conversation on Facebook. She was asking if anyone knew if lice could be spread without direct head-to-head contact, and many Moms were jumping in with their own war stories and tales of the itchy little critters. (Let’s all pause for a collective… “OMG”.)
Now normally conversations of this nature would have me scrolling down quicker than you can say “pass the fine-toothed comb”, but this time, a horrible thought occurred to me:
Ryder has started school. Which means he is now sharing a space with many other children. Hence, he is no longer immune to the breeding ground of bacteria that is often referred to as the classroom. O.M.G.
And so the paranoia began (as we knew it would), and at precisely 11:37pm I found myself Googling lice, cold and flu germs, common warts, strep throat, pink eye, and pretty much everything else that can be passed from child to child at an alarming rate. Ladies and gentlemen, there’s some scary stuff out there.
Seriously, how do Moms of school-aged children do it? How do you stay calm, knowing you’re relinquishing your baby into a cesspool of germiness?
(Okay, so germiness isn’t technically a word, but it is nevertheless understood by hypochondriacs everywhere.)
Thankfully, I didn’t go down a dark path for too long. In between my searches for conjunctivitis and ringworm, I realized that part of being a parent is being the voice of reason. And that my boys’ reaction to any childhood illness or condition will be a direct reflection of MY reaction – and that’s why I had to get a grip, and fast. Why should I make them feel bad over something that isn’t anyone’s fault, and really isn’t the end of the world?
So, I stopped panicking and decided to use some common sense. As in, I’ll cross that bridge if/when I come to it, and in the meantime, I’ll make myself aware of the available options out there. After all, one of the best ways to avoid panic is to be prepared!
And so I’d like to introduce you to my “Things That Keep Me Up at Night” series – where I’ll discuss some common childhood complaints (and my resulting insomnia from thinking about them) plus showcase sanity-saving products that you should keep in your medicine chest – or at the very least, keep on your radar – should you ever need them. …