Daycare Crud at 27?

Now that Alli is nine months old, I can really tell who in our house has grown up in a daycare setting and who hasn't. Want to know why? It's not because of developmental signs in Mommy B and I or how easily we make friends - it's because of the sicknesses! Allow me to explain...

Those of you out there who have put your child(ren) through daycare know all about Daycare Crud. Let's be honest, putting a dozen infants/toddlers together in a room and turning them loose isn't exactly the most sanitary environment in the world. Basically, it's a petri dish of germs. And since kids are born with next to no immune system, they catch anything and everything that's out there. The only good side to this is that they get sick and get better relatively quickly (compared to older folks). Usually it's minor colds and coughs, maybe a low-grade fever here and there - but typically nothing major.

While this process can be draining on us parents - with constantly waking us up at night and breaking out the Children's Tylenol - it's a part of growing up that helps strengthen their little immune systems so they won't get sick later on in life when it's harder for the body to fight off the infection. Well guess what? Dad-E didn't grow up going to daycare - which means I never had the opportunity to build up an immune system to battle the Daycare Crud. Which, in turn, means that I catch everything that Alli brings home with her.

Alli has only been sick a couple times since she was born, so I guess we've been lucky in that respect. However, guess who has gotten sick each week after Alli did? This guy. That's right, I'm now fighting sinus congestion and a sore throat (which has been my M.O. since I was born) a week after Alli was. I don't have the cough that she did, but that could be coming soon. Adults don't get Croup, but this could just be the way my body is fighting it off.

So here I am, 27 years old and I'm having to fight off the same colds that Alli is because I never spent a minute at daycare when I was young. And guess who is galavantin' around all healthy? You know who - Mommy B. She not only spent her childhood at daycare, but also has years of pediatric nursing under her belt. A kid could sneeze into her open mouth and she wouldn't get sick. Makes me sick-er just thinking about it. I have to say that it stinks getting sick right after Alli does, but at least I'll be ready for when the next kid starts bringing home the Daycare Crud.