Plagued

We're finally getting over the nasty illnesses that felled us this week. All three of us had nasty colds, and I had an ear infection on top of it. It was my first ever, and I definitely don't care to repeat the experience. A whole week later, and my ear is still ringing loudly and is completely stuffed up, and the entire left side of my head hurts. No fun at all.

I think there must be a special place in hell reserved for people who insert their sniffly, diseased selves (and their diseased kids) into social situations knowing damn well that they're sick. In our case, we went to a first birthday party in the last few days of 2006. At the time, I noticed that the birthday girl was snotty, but I hoped ferverently that she was just teething.

Sure enough, though, four days later the Cheeto and I were getting sick. When I had the opportunity to speak to plague mom, she simply giggled and said "oh, you must have that thing that's going around. [diseased kid] and I just got over that." Really? You don't say. Argh.

And then this same girl showed up at my house unannounced later in the week to tell me that her mother and mother-in-law both have whooping cough. Her mom caught it at the birthday party from the mother in law, who had at that point been sick for over a month. She "just wanted to let me know" we'd been exposed. No apology, no outrage, nada.

What is wrong with people? Who thinks it's ok to expose young children to sickness without even giving their parents the chance to keep the kid away? Was she so desperate to have people at her kid's birthday party? And was her mother-in-law so desperate to see that child that she was willing to get her granddaughter sick, as well as all of the other kids? Not to mention the pregnant lady (who, by the way, is already freaking out over this pregnancy and doesn't need more reasons to think the baby will have two heads and a hump)?

I usually don't consider myself an overprotective mom. I know kids get sick, and it's not always possible to prevent it. But I see red when people deliberately expose my kid to illness for no good reason. I won't be hanging out with the plague girl anytime soon.

In other news, I fear that in my diseased stupor this past week, I have been abusing the television. Last night, the Cheeto started singing along with one of the songs on the show I'd Tivod and let her watch almost every day. I think a hiatus is in order. As soon as I finish this post.