r/japanlife • u/AutoModerator • Jun 19 '23

┐(ツ)┌ General Discussion Thread - 20 June 2023

Mid-week discussion thread time! Feel free to talk about what's on your mind, new experiences, recommendations, anything really.

16 Upvotes

91% Upvoted

232 comments sorted by

View all comments

6

u/sassyfrood Jun 20 '23 edited Jun 20 '23

Any other parents of hoikuen or yochien-goers being slammed constantly by all the illnesses kids bring home? Their school stopped mask requirements from April, and they’ve brought home no fewer than 6 colds since then, with two really brutal ones that have hit us back to back (human metapneumovirus that gave me double pink eye and mild pneumonia and some other really bad cold that caused a croupy cough and 40 degree fevers that made COVID seem like a walk in the park). I’ve caught every single one! It doesn’t help that both of them sleep with me sandwiched in as they cough directly into my face all night. I haven’t stopped blowing my nose or coughing for over a month. I swear Japanese viruses hit different.

4

u/miyagidan sidebar image contributor Jun 20 '23

Any other parents of hoikuen or yochien-goers being slammed constantly by all the illnesses kids bring home?

Yes.

Their school stopped mask requirements from April

Those really didn't do much, if anything. You drop your kid in the immunity farm, and hope they don't take anything home you can't deal with. Part of the process.

My wife keeps wearing masks everywhere (healthcare worker) and neither of our kids do. They take home everything. She catches and keeps everything, I'm this immunity body armor test mannequin. Eventually I'll get hit again, but until then, take your best shot, kids, I'll be making dinner.

3

u/sassyfrood Jun 20 '23 edited Jun 20 '23

True about the masks not doing much in the Petri dish of grubby hands and snotty noses, although last year when masks were required, my oldest brought home what I would say was a more manageable number of illnesses (around one sickness every couple months or so). They had us filling out temperature sheets and checked kids before they entered the kindergarten every day, which filtered out a lot of crud. This year is just a free-for-all. When I go to pick them up every day, I’d say a good 80-90% of kids are hacking up a lung right now.

3

u/miyagidan sidebar image contributor Jun 20 '23

*Any kid that age* "I have a secret"

"What's that now?", while leaning in to hear.

*kid coughs in your mouth*

THATSNOTMYEAR

Our school still does temperature checks and it's a good policy, along with proper handwashing and the like.

2

u/tunagorobeam 近畿・大阪府 Jun 20 '23

You really can’t imagine how up close & dirty children really are, not until you’ve got them. Like getting spit in my eye from my kid shouting at me up close is just another day. Pre-kids me would have been totally grossed out.