Sunday, October 5, 2008

The Fifth

Most days I think I'm decent at this whole mom thing. Other days, I get looks from other moms that pretty much tell me that I'm doing it all wrong. And the looks say it all.

So. . . what tends to make other moms think you are a bad mom?


Your child shoplifting? Yeah- been there, done that.


Not being able to keep up with the PTA moms? I'll never be able to do that, so I'm over it.


Using your child's fascination with Cinderella to get a clean house? Whatever works.


Cheating at Candyland? I'll do it again, too.

She knows the concept of passing a drug test. I swear I have no part in teaching her this.

But, the latest transgression happened on Friday. I had gotten several calls from the school nurse that day about Maddie's rash. She told me how bad it looked, but she wasn't running a fever. She no longer thought it was poison ivy, but Fifth Disease.

Ever heard of it? It's a nasty, nasty thing.

It starts out as a fever, which Maddie had last week and we (including the doctors) thought it was a cold. Then, a few days later a rash breaks out. And this is not like any normal rash. It's a scary, "what's wrong with your kid?" kind of rash. Once the rash breaks out, they are no longer contagious. And there is nothing you can do about it.

When I picked her up from school, she ran up to me. I looked at her cheeks, which clearly had the "slapped cheek" look and I asked to see her arms. She held them up, and it was honestly the nastiest rash I've ever seen.

But what got me were the 2 audible gasps coming from other moms. Then, as my child is wont to do, Maddie decided to tell everyone about it. "Mommy, I've got fifth disease and I itch. These bumps are all over my belly and back. I can't get hot with this fifth disease, cause it makes it worse." Maddie, for the love of all that's holy, STOP saying disease.

Every time she said "disease" the moms stepped further and further away. They shielded their children as they walked by. They looked at me like it was my fault.

I knew it was pointless to explain that she was no longer contagious. And that I kept her home when she did have fever and was contagious. This time, it's not my fault!!!

I have a feeling that some parent didn't keep their child home from school when she was contagious. And if I asked each and every one of them. . .

they would plead the fifth.


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9 comments:

Rachel said...

bwaaa haaa haaahaaahaaahaaahaaaaaa

I fall a bit more in love with Maddie every single day ;-)

She and Princess, would rule the world :-)

Anonymous said...

Yep, she had the slapped face appearance...nice huh.

You know what, I never got fifth's as a child and I got it when I was 25 years old and on an Alaskan cruise. After the red face look, my facial skin started to peel off, I was so pretty.

At first I din't know what was wrong and went to the spa on the boat to have them scrub my face down...yeah, it's better that she has it now.

Amy said...

It's such an easy thing to get and no one knows anything about it.
My oldest had it in kindergarten, the only thing that bugged me about it was the fact that the nurse did not inform the school it was going around. I was newly pregnant and it can be dangerous to those in their first trimesters.
But really, like those mom's kids never had anything? It's the season, flu, tummy bugs, lice, strep, UGH~

Bren said...

Poor Maddie! I hope she's all cleared up. And you know you're right...they'd all plead the fifth.

Kimberlee Kee said...

Very common, although I don't think my kids had it. Of course my 2 month old (Sarah) got chicken pox right after a well-baby checkup. That was embarassing when I took her back to the doctor for a "rash" that did turn out to be quite contagious. Oh well, got that out of the way. These things just build up their immunity.

Karen said...

I've heard of it. We've not had that pleasure yet.

Creative-Type Dad said...

What? I've never heard of that...

Great, now something else to worry about.

MommyTime said...

Oh, poor Maddie. I hope she feels better soon.

Kellan said...

Please the 5th - HA! We had a few bouts of Fifths DESEASE at our house.

BTW - I often get looks from other moms too.

Take care - Kellan

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