They have done, and continue to do, those things. I guess I was just venting. They were soooooo disappointed when this woman, whom they liked!, quit after only three days.
It’s hard to find part time nanny. When GD starts pre school next fall, D1 is still going to keep their nanny full time or else they may lose the nanny.
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Also with exposure to ‘germ pool’ will have sick days covered at home.
Yup, that germ pool exposure is likely to mean sick days for the grandchild. My GD started daycare part time last month, and she has RSV now. We knew it was bound to happen, and she’s luckily doing okay with it. She stayed home Friday, and I masked up & went over to watch her. She may stay home tomorrow, as well, even though she hasn’t had a fever since Friday. She’s really stuffy & has a cough - unless she magically wakes up fine in the morning, I’ll be heading over again tomorrow. It would be tough for D & SIL to get their work done without my help watching GD. Having a backup nanny (assuming she’s okay with sick-duty) will be helpful, @oldfort.
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I am enjoying and relating to many of the stories I read here. We cared for GD 2 days a week from 5 months old until school age. GD is 6 yrs old now and in 1st grade and we care for her on school holidays. We play board games , enjoy legos, and doing age appropriate experiments. But we also have to PLAY school. Of course she is the teacher!
We get some insight into her school day. We have our math work, and read books, lunch and recess. Husband ( his student name is Kayden ) who ignored previous warnings, got his phone taken away and but in the “June box”, not to be returned to him until June. We had a fire drill too. As she was typing on her computer realized the smart board wasn’t working so called tech! There were also calls coming about students needing to leave early.! Was hard not to laugh, but I do dislike playing school!
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Our 3.5-yr-old GD just started pre-school last month. When DH and I were visiting her last weekend, she also wanted to play school and of course be the teacher. She was so damn bossy to us that I wondered to DH if her school could possibly be a prison in disguise.
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RSV sure is a bear. Was it not a thing when our kids were little? I don’t remember it. GD was doing okay with it, and I took care of her Friday when she stayed home from daycare. She threw a huge tantrum, even jumping up & down, and wouldn’t let me touch her, when I tried to put her down for a nap. She did the same to D on Saturday. Then last night, she woke up screaming in the middle of the night. D remembers her brother screaming from earaches, and she figured that all the congestion resulted in an earache. It would explain the tantrums (GD hurt but did not understand why - and couldn’t express it). After a doctor visit this morning, turns out she’s got crackles in her breathing. She’s on breathing treatments every four hours. No earache … trouble breathing, even though you can’t tell by looking at her. Doctor said 70% of their patients have been RSV the last week.
It existed but I think it got labeled less. When D (about to turn 40) was three months, she had a bad respiratory virus. H who later became pediatrician said it almost certainly had been RSV though not labeled. By the time he was in practice, it was a term he regularly used.
When we were kids, I’m sure it was “a bug.”
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It was a huge deal for my daughter (she’s 26) when she was a baby because she was a preemie and her lungs were bad. She was part of a medical study and got infusions once a month for 5 months in 1996-97, and again the next winter, to prevent it. She never got it but did have bronchitis that first year (and then I took her out of daycare). With the infusions, she was actually pretty healthy those two years compared to her peers, and she was back in daycare that second winter.
My friend’s son, who is 30, had it just before covid started and spent a month in the hospital he has Down syndrome and has a number of medical issues. He was very very sick and the doctor described his lungs as ‘spongy’ with it.
Wow, I guess I was probably aware of it as a virus, but not as this particular virus. I did read today that there may be a vaccine in the near future.
I don’t mean to frighten anyone, but my 5 month old GS ended up in the NICU for 4 days in August with RSV. The RSV lead to bronchiolitis. He had a high fever, cough, and wheezing, His oxygen level was low for several days. It was heartbreaking to see pictures of the little guy in a hospital bed with breathing tubes, an IV, and other wires and tubes. He did recover quickly. Hopefully he’ll stay healthy through the winter.
I think this is a scary winter for viruses. My adult son has been ill since Friday with something that I suspect is the flu. His covid test is negative but he feels like crap. He’s supposed to go to Europe on Sunday for business and I’m beginning to doubt that he’ll make it.
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Flu and Strep right now seem to be hitting college campuses and lots of other places. RSV is so hard on very young children and those with lung weaknesses, be it prematurity or weak immune systems. Plus the ear infections and cold/congestion.
Some years the flu vaccine doesn’t ‘hit’ right with the forecasted strains.
‘Safety net’ with back up (often grandparents) to help.
‘Until the next thing hits’…our grandbabies had some kind of diarrhea/stomach bug that went through a month or two ago - it hit the younger two (now age 1 and 3). So they had to be healthy for 24 hours before return to daycare. Probably something similar that hit another grandchild on this thread where grandma/Nana had to do a lot of clean up with car and car seat.
4 YO had Covid some months ago - she had a fever on a Saturday and tested positive for Covid. Mom, a VA Hospital nurse, had to be out with sick leave due to exposure, for the protocol time. Thankfully she is in ‘non-essential’ management position (they use that term with not needing to find another to ‘cover’ when out).
Well…this year folks are out and about where these viruses are hanging out. For the last few years, folks were more hunkered down, masked, avoided crowds, etc. Perhaps that is part of the reason for the uptick.
A little off topic…so back to the grandparents. Just do the best you can to NOT catch or spread things.
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GD is almost 3 months old and D will be returning to work at the end of the week. “Mimi Mondays” start next week!
D was in the neighborhood today with GD and they stopped by and had lunch. GD gave me a the biggest smile when she saw me (she has just started really doing that). I wish I had a picture!
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Halloween costumes have been acquired. Twin A will be a black cat. Twin B will be a “mingo” (flamingo). New baby boy will be a joey in mama kangaroo’s baby sling.
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I am stealing the flamingo idea for next year. GD would love it. This gives me time to find just the right shades of pink for tights, leotard, fabric, faux feathers, etc. She’s getting a Steiff flamingo for Christmas and will probably want it to go with her. 
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GS will be a fire fighter. GD will be Amaya/Owlette from PJ Masks.
Last year they were characters from Paw Patrol, Marshall and Skye. Yes, these kiddos are allowed to watch a little TV, recorded so we can skip commercials.
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The flamingo is adorable.
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