This Flu Shall Pass

It's funny. I just got through telling my friends how I managed to stay cold and flu free this season and then BAM! I get walloped by some weird laryngitis/cough thing that's been lingering since I caught it about a week and a half ago. I even took my own daughter to the pediatrician because we were worried she had strep (no worries, just a cold) and as I hacked up a lung in the office, my kids' jovial doctor looked at me and said "Maybe you should see a doctor and check that out. You shouldn't take a chance with respiratory ailments."

And that's when I decided there's something seriously wrong with pediatricians. If you're a busy mom who is carting your kids to the doctor because you're afraid they may have contracted swine flu and you happen to be sporting a nasty cough as well, would it kill the pediatrician to check you out too? Does that violate some code of ethics or something? Because all I know is that the last thing I want to do tomorrow is make an appointment with the glitzy Upper East Side doctor factory that I'm forced to visit when I suspect I'm suffering from a pandemic only to find that I've got nothing more than a chest cold.

I guess it serves me right. Never brag that you haven't gotten sick all year because when you disclose that piece of news, expect to contract bubonic plague within a matter of days.  Oh, and did I mention that my daughter's school has a confirmed case of H1N1 (aka swine flu) and they haven't closed the place down yet?  We even attended the school carnival this weekend and I froze my patooties off in the rain while learning that the kid who had been diagnosed a few days earlier was actually jumping around in the bounce house near my kids!  He's germ free according to his doctor but would it have killed his parents to keep him home just to be safe?

I know I shouldn't be judgemental, but what exactly is the protocol for a parent of a kid who had been diagnosed with a serious illness who decides to send him to an event with hundreds of kids on a bitter cold afternoon? I know he probably didn't have a trace of the virus in his system, but why take a chance?  I know at this point, the severity of the illness does depend on the age and health of the patient but what about parents of newborns?  A school age child may bounce back from the flu but babies can't.  And in light of the recent passing of the assistant principal from Queens who was merely suffering from gout before he succumbed to swine flu, the thought of a child contracting swine flu in my kids' school is pretty damn scary.

Despite the hysteria, the surge in sales of Purell, my nagging hacker's cough and my fourth graders' report of more kids with raging fevers, it's only a matter of time before this flu shall pass.  And hopefully, as the school year finally draws to a close we'll get back to dealing with those usual outbreaks that drive us to the point of insanity.  Can anyone say head lice?  'Nuff said.

Beth Feldman is the founder of RoleMommy.com, a website and events company for today's busy parents created to inspire, entertain and empower moms to pursue their passion while raising a family.  She's also the author of Peeing in Peace:  Tales & Tips for Type A Moms (Sourcebooks), is a contributor to the current bestseller, True Mom Confessions and is currently editing a humor anthology titled "See Mom Run:  Side Splitting Essays from the World's Most Harried Blogging Moms" that will be released this fall by Plain White Press.