Strep A vs Covid

[ErinKC]

Some of the parents on here are also bound to be concerned as I'm sure they are the absolute minefield of illnesses kids can go through.

It's been a hellacious year for us parents! Since August, when school started, my daughter has had 8 viruses, including the flu. And, that's not counting when we all got Covid in July. She's missed 17 days of school with illnesses so far. The school tells me they strive for kids to not miss more than 10 the WHOLE YEAR. I am really hoping this year is recentering us in the virus department and it goes back to "normal" next year. It's madness.

[Pamplemousse]

Yes - Strep has been around for ages. It used to cause scarlet fever and be much more serious before antibiotics. Now, it's pretty innocuous, causing a handful of deaths each year among more vulnerable populations like most illnesses do.

Years ago I read George F. Kennan's memoirs (he was an American diplomat throughout the Cold War, well known for writing about "containment"). In the 1920s when he was just about to start college he got strep and ended up missing the entire first semester because it took that many months for him to overcome it without antibiotics. So, it's nothing new in the slightest.

My mother caught Scarlet Fever in the 1930s as a child. The most distressing part for her was having her favourite doll burned because it was felt the bacteria could be transmitted via toys and when you're in a big but very poor family, that must have been heartbreaking.

[Fishmanpa]

No need for you to be one of those people who believe whatever is written in the media though?

Exactly! Just like googling, being addicted to news and constantly scrutinizing what they say and how it impacts others is a mute point. Its how it affects you and dictates your behaviors and thoughts.

FMP

[ErinKC]

My mother caught Scarlet Fever in the 1930s as a child. The most distressing part for her was having her favourite doll burned because it was felt the bacteria could be transmitted via toys and when you're in a big but very poor family, that must have been heartbreaking.

Yes - this was also the premise of story The Velveteen Rabbit! He gets thrown away after the child has scarlet fever. It's such a sad book!

[BlueIris]

I had a recording of that story, I still tear up a bit thinking of it.

[NoraB]

Yes - this was also the premise of story The Velveteen Rabbit! He gets thrown away after the child has scarlet fever. It's such a sad book!

I have that book. I've seen the film. I have a quote framed on my wall.

It doesn't happen all at once.
You become.
It takes a long time.
That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or have to be carefully kept.
Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out, and you get loose in the joints and very shabby.
But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real, you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand.

My 'velveteen rabbit' is a doll. I've loved her for 47 years, and having been 'well loved', D looks 'ugly' to those who don't understand. ('Bride of Chucky' has been mentioned a few times).

I loved her so much that her head fell off one year. Mum had to stitch it back on because I was distraught. But to me, D was Real, and the best friend (and keeper of secrets) that I've ever had. Her original outfit became worn and threadbare, so Mum came to the rescue once again and covered her in some old (and naff) curtain material. This made her look a bit shit tbh, but times were hard and the thought was there. In the 90s, one of the women I worked with (who was very handy with sewing machine) made her a more modern removable outfit. The faded original is still there, complete with my mother's Frankenstein-esque stitching around the neck area.

D started life with lovely curly blonde hair, but I decided to give her a haircut one Christmas Eve while I was waiting for Santa, as you do. The end result was that she went from looking like Shirley Temple to looking like Johnny Rotten. (Turns out that curved nail scissors aren't that great for cutting hair).

I've since fixed this gross injustice by making her a lil wig using a messy hair bun scrunchie off Amazon. (Slightly different shade of blonde, but she's back to looking more Shirley and less Johnny).

Nobody could ever love D like I have (and still do), so that's why I've asked for her to be cremated with me when I go. To be honest, with her and my first pooch's ashes, things are going to be crowded in that coffin, but I literally can't stand the thought of her being tossed into the bin and ending up in landfill.

Any of you guys still have your 'Velveteen Rabbits'?

[.Poppy.]

I do, Nora. He's a TY Beanie Baby - "Toffee". I got Toffee on a vacation with my parents and remember picking him out because he was so soft. He was with me growing up, alongside other stuffed animals and dolls, and I remember taking him with me when I had to stay at a family friend's house for several weeks when my brother was in the hospital. I was really sad to be away from my family and admittedly felt a bit abandoned, but Toffee helped me through. He's got some marred fur on one of his legs where apparently I had put a band-aid on him for awhile, and he's not quite as soft as he used to be, but otherwise is holding up well and is still on my bed today.

[Pamplemousse]

I do too... and Anne's... and ours. Over a hundred, in fact.

I still maintain if ever there was a fire they'd be what I rescued; or if I couldn't rescue them, then I'd stay with them to the end. Yes, they mean *that* much to me.

[NoraB]

I was really sad to be away from my family and admittedly felt a bit abandoned, but Toffee helped me through.

I'm so glad you have Toffee. I can't imagine how I'd have got through school without D. (I had her for my fifth birthday, and she was there from day one of school the following September).

[NoraB]

I still maintain if ever there was a fire they'd be what I rescued; or if I couldn't rescue them, then I'd stay with them to the end. Yes, they mean *that* much to me.

There's no way I could leave D, so I understand you completely.

This is actually a very interesting subject re affection (and other emotions, like sympathy) for inanimate objects, and it's actually very much a thing with people on the spectrum, especially when things get broke or damaged. (But I'd imagine that affection for inanimate objects affects almost everybody at some point in their lives).

My 13 year-old son shares a double bed with all his plushies, his most loved friend being Hedwig (once white, now dark grey lol).