Mom Shares Park Toys Even Though Her Kid Has Norovirus — Sparks Outrage
"Majority of people/parents will be horrifically inconsiderate."
Published June 19 2024, 9:15 a.m. ET
A mom shared just how livid she was to discover that a fellow parent thought it would be a good idea to bring her norovirus-stricken family to the playground and share a toy with her son.
Kady (@kadybyday) posted her viral rant to TikTok, delineating how she found herself in the less-than-ideal situation and that she couldn't believe someone else would behave in such a manner.
"OK please tell me if I'm overreacting or how mad you would be. I just got back to my house. So one of my mom friends was like, 'Hey I'm going to the park, do you wanna come, I'll help you wrangle Kayson.' Because as you guys know, I'm very big and pregnant," she says while sticking her stomach out toward the camera.
"And it was early, it wasn't quite 90 degrees yet, so I said, 'Sure, meet you at the park.'"
Kady then went on to explain how visitors to the park even go about getting inside of it: "This is a neighborhood park that you have to have a key to get into, we all kind of know each other there, at least we're familiar with each other," she says toward the camera.
"There's another mom there, I've seen her before, she has like a 3-year-old, maybe like a 1-year-old, she starts talking to me and my friend and ... whatever, just making small talk. And then she has like a toy, it's like a duck on top with bubbles, and my son's always like 'Oh duck, duck, bubble' so she hands it to him, super nice," Kady recalls.
"Again, this is a neighborhood park, you have to live in the neighborhood ... have a key to get in, it's very common for kids to share toys, scooters, etcetera. After she hands Kayson the toy, he's playing with it, no problem. She proceeds to tell us her whole family just had norovirus; her husband is still at home sick with it," she says into the camera.
Kady doesn't sound too thrilled that her son just took a toy from a woman who admitted to being afflicted with the highly contagious illness, and for good reason. Not only is she worried about the health of her son who is now interacting with the woman's possibly diseased duck, but she also has her unborn baby to think about.
On top of that, as a pregnant woman, if she falls ill there's a limit to what kind of medications she can take so as not to jeopardize the health of her baby. "We probably should wash our hands after being around her and be on alert for the next 24 hours," she says into the camera, before looking directly down the barrel of the lens and taking a moment of silence.
Kady said that while she understands folks almost always run the risk of getting sick whenever they head outside, and subject their own children to the same risk on a daily basis, she couldn't believe that the norovirus mom at the park didn't consider how other people feel about being put at risk in an exclusive community park.
"You're kidding me, you're f------ kidding me. Like I understand taking your child anywhere in a car, you know a Publix, a Target, whatever, a library, there's a chance that they're gonna get sick. But how do you knowingly come, basically sick with the stomach flu," the mom exclaims, astounded by the lack of consideration on the other park mom's part.
What's more is that her pregnancy thus far hasn't been without its fair share of issues to begin with: "I got some grape juice and if we get sick and I get sick in my 35th week of pregnancy with a stomach flu after already having food poisoning three times this pregnancy..."
"Obviously I'm way more worried about Kayson getting it, 'cause we haven't dealt with that yet. I will lose my ever loving mind," she says, stressing how much she does not want to get norovirus from this woman's family.
One commenter who responded to Kady's video said that they sadly weren't surprised to hear the TikToker's tale, stating that unfortunately they've also come across a number of people who typically don't consider how their actions will affect others: "Not even surprised. I’ve learned that the vast majority of people/parents will be horrifically inconsiderate if it means a good time for them."
Another person who responded to the video stated that their own child fell ill in a similar fashion after someone only disclosed to them after the fact that their family was previously sick: "Not overreacting! That’s incredibly inconsiderate! I’m so sorry! This is how my daughter got hand-foot-and-mouth. I was told afterwards that they JUST got over it…."
How would you feel if you someone told you after the fact that their entire family just got over a bad illness? Do you think that folks need to be more considerate of how/when they overcome sickness? Or should she be grateful that the mom told her that in the first place and suggested she wash her hands?