Jill Smokler, AKA Scary Mommy
@scarymommy
Latest posts by Jill Smokler, AKA Scary Mommy (see all)
- The Disney Reveal - May 14, 2013
- Met My Match At Disney… - May 13, 2013
- Sunday’s Baltimore Sun - May 11, 2013
I just read a story on the Huffington Post about a (now closed) Facebook page where people buy diseased lollipops, and they are sent through the mail, in hopes of making children sick with things like chicken pox, mumps and measles. You know, instead of vaccinations. From a member: “I got a Pox Package in mail just moments ago. I have two lollipops and a wet rag and spit.”
Yummy!
It’s along the lines of chickenpox parties, except via the mail, so you really have no idea who or where the nastiness is coming from, or what other diseases are actually present.
We’ll file this under things I just don’t get. At all.
However, since there seems to be a market for this sort of thing, I’d like to offer up my son.
Each and every winter, Evan is a walking germ-fest. His nose constantly spews a variety of rainbow colors and coughs and sneezes constantly. He’s that kid who elicits cringes and scowls from pre-school parents, wondering why I don’t just take him out of school all winter long. The sickness begins back in September and lasts all the way through March, resulting in inevitable season-long illnesses for the entire household.
So, because I love you all and everyone deserves a sick day, I’d be willing to send a used tissue of his to rub all over your face. It’s pretty much a sure-fire way to get sick and the next best thing to having him breathe all over you.
Maybe, if you’re really lucky, you’ll even get pneumonia!
Consider it my gift to you.
You’re welcome.
{ 98 comments… read them below or add one }
A brilliant business idea, Jill!! Use what you’ve got eh?
(how’s the book writing coming along?)
Alison@Mama Wants This recently posted..Pause Life For A Moment
Book writing is great! Just turned in the edited manuscript and now I just wait. :)
good luck!-now you’ll have more time to be sick, um but you’re a mom so never mind! Can’t wait for the book to be on the shelves!
I just read about this from different news storys and it’s really not safe. They said that the lolipops are often infected with more then just chicken pox. They have things such as hepatitis and more. What a bad idea? Just my thoughts.
Why on earth would any parent want to make their kids suffer through mumps and measles! Grrr….
Too bad kids can catch colds and the flu an infinite number of times or you’d have a nice money maker. (How would you list that on ebay? Snot rags for sale?) How about passing along the stomach virus as well?
Oh, and I send my kid to school sick too. I figure, he picked it up there, he might as well keep sharing the love.
Vinobaby recently posted..Holiday Comforts
My boy, 2, is the same as Evan except he seems like a year-long sickie. Every other week right after we’re glad the snot has finally stopped pouring out of him, there it is, whispering I’m baaaaaaaaaaaack. The oldest girl, 10, rarely gets sick (so when she does, cue the drama!). The middle girl at 8 is a cross between the two. But back to the nastiness you first mentioned about buying used, germ/disease infested items. THE HELL?
Arnebya recently posted..Comment on Mom Shoes by Arnebya
Oh my gawd, I’ve never seen such a kid who looked more devilishly innocent!
NoDramaMama recently posted..A Conversation With a Two-Year-Old
People are freaking crazy.
But hey, let’s profit off their craziness with our walking germ-bomb children. Love it!
Shell recently posted..School Bus VS Mom Taxi
Ha! He just looks like he can’t wait to spread those germs!
Mel recently posted..Say What?
You are always so giving and kind ; )
Life with Kaishon recently posted..Baby Terren and his big smile
Good grief people are nuts! Funny post.
Seriously Sassy Mama recently posted..A Wreath
That has got to violate some sort of FDA rule. Insanity.
Amy recently posted..Bug’s first racial bullying, and why were we white people so shocked?
“Government prosecutors are warning parents that they will be prosecuted if they are caught ordering lollipops, vials of spit, or other infected items off the Internet with the intentions of infecting their children”-http://shenkitup.com/2011/11/07/diseased-lollipops-christmas-and-lindsay-lohan/
I gagged over “vials of spit”.
We wrote about this on Mouthy Housewives today, too. Who the hell would give their kid an infected lollipop from an internet stranger? Mind boggling.
I thought that’s what I paid pre-school fees for?
My father (in his 60′s) says the worst part about having the measles was how he caught them. My grandmother insisted that my dad play with the irritating kid next door, who was home sick with the measles. My dad had to spend all his waking time with this “insuffferable little turd” until he, too, caught the virus.
highlyirritable recently posted..I have high expectations and possibly A.D…Look! Something shiny!
Oh god, what the fuck. Crazy. Now throwing away the Halloween candy….
tracy recently posted..Making a Family Connection..and a Birthday Wish
People are crazy. Just get the damn vaccine.
Jen recently posted..Lost and Found
Have you read up on vaccines? No way I’m letting my kids near that crap. I wouldn’t buy germs online, but I also won’t inject my kids just because it’s the popular thing to do.
Yes. I read that they are safe and that they keep our kids from getting sick and if you don’t get them your kids could die or you could kill some babies. But you keep reading that debunked suspect “schmience” (because you can’t really call it science) that you find on the craziest corner of the Internet. Not like any one could stop you.
Please prove my point by responding with a bunch of links that all go to crazy New Age shmolistic websites.
Melinda recently posted..Eight Parenting Styles More Annoying Than Attachment Parenting
Kids dying from the chicken pox? Seriously? How did my generation survive? In fact, why isn’t everybody in Europe dead already since we don’t get vaccinated for the chicken pox! Maybe you’re thinking of smallpox which has been eradicated.
Moomser recently posted..Virtual Coffee {27}
Melinda, best thing i have heard all day. THANK YOU for maybe (but doubtfully) putting a little sense in the mothers who think its okay to NOT vaccinate. FYI people, vaccinations have probably saved your stupid ass from some deadly disease and you wont do the same for your child because of what some Idiot told you on the internet? SMH.
Yes, actually I did do my research on vaccine and I studied the subject in school. I am an RN.
Jen recently posted..Lost and Found
I’m an MD and a toxicologist. Vaccine are MORE safe and have LESS ingredients (including the proteins that give you immunity) and protect us from MORE diseases than when they were first introduced or than what you had as a kid. “Natural immunity” wanes just as fast as vaccine immunity.
Plenty of babies die or suffer irreversible side effects from vaccinations, too.
Proof? Is this another boogie-man story you’ve bought lock, stock and barrel?
My initial reaction was “Holy goodness, what is wrong with people.”
My second reaction was “Maybe I could order one and get out of work for a week.” Why yes, I would rather be sick in bed than working — perhaps a sign it’s time for a new job.
Mrs. D-Zo recently posted..Death by Lunch Break
Wait, it’s not normal to prefer being sick in bed over working?!?
Oh the human race. It baffles me in one way or another every damn day.
You can keep your nasty tissues, we have enough around here. But the kid IS cute. :)
Elaine recently posted..Some days…
I saw this. Disgusting. I’m really wondering what marketing/PR team is heading up THIS project because it would be a nightmare.
Bleu recently posted..My Whole Foods Guy Crush
That’s insane. Fucking insane.
I read about this. People are nuts. How is that better in their minds than just getting the vaccine?
Jennifer recently posted..An open letter to the Swifties
Really? They will infect their children with something bought off the Internet? They’re so scared of what might happen because of vaccines, but they have no problem with the fact that ANYTHING could be in those lollipops? What a bunch of maroons…This just makes me sad for humanity.
WTF?
Not Winning Mom of the Year recently posted..Dear Dina,
When my pediatrician told me about the Chicken Pox vaccine, I said, “What?! In my day we had this thing called calamine lotion. It was pink and crusty and didn’t help at all.” In my day we did not have Chicken Pox lollipops. Why would you purposefully get your kid sick? Chicken Pox is usually benign, but not always. Those parents need to hit with the old Prostitute Toothbrush. Someone needs to set up that Facebook page.
Melinda recently posted..Eight Parenting Styles More Annoying Than Attachment Parenting
Lord help me, but I HAD to! http://sfeasyrider.blogspot.com/2011/11/and-now-word-from-our-sponsor.html
Melinda recently posted..And now a word from our sponsor…
Oh pardon me, I just assumed that you were crazy enough to not give your kids any vaccine. I have no idea why I assumed that. I was of course talking about other more serious diseases that crazy people don’t vaccinate for. But you vaccinate your kids, don’t you? So sorry to lump you in with all those crazies. By the way, according to the cdc, there are 100-150 deaths each year from Chicken Pox. A very small number, indeed. Sure hope your kids (or some baby too young to get the vaccine) aren’t one of them.
Melinda recently posted..And now a word from our sponsor…
As much as I’d like to take advantage of your kind offer I’m afraid I will have to decline. I have my own bag of germs at home and she is all my frail body can handle…
Tinne from Tantrums and Tomatoes recently posted..A smith has opened shop inside my head or detox day 2
Maybe he has allergies?
That post sounds like it subscribes to the school of thought that my MIL subscribes to. She’s constantly sending articles and emails to us about the latest and unbelievable ways of new age healthcare. Just like she refused to let FIL receive chemo for cancer, because it would hurt his body. Uh, hello, he has cancer already.
June recently posted..A Night Out
Hey, just get yourself some candy molds and you’ll be in business! Cute germ-y kid, by the way.
Carrie – Cannibalistic Nerd recently posted..She’s my pumpkin pie, warm boat of gravy such a sweet suprise-I got you a Thanksgiving card!
I’m speechless.
Moomser recently posted..Virtual Coffee {27}
Ew! Some of my favorite funnier memories from my childhood and mine are from chicken pox parties and years later when the kids started to attempt to understand “Mommy why’d you want me to get sick?” And the ensuing laughs when their best pal Stephen was the diligent disease carrier that infected them. And they in turn infected their best pals Mary Caroline and Cecelia. Not some stranger’s lollipop. Ew.
I’ll think I’ll pass on the germ filled tissue – we have plenty of our own all winter long!
On the lollipop thing – I can’t even phathom actually wanting to make my kids sick. I’ll never cease to be amazed on what some people will do.
Kim recently posted..Tassle Necklace – Silver, Mixed Metals, Gunmetal, Fashion
That’s it. I’m never letting my kids check the mail again! I am absolutely speechless (which is rare) over that.
Angel_DWMW recently posted..Betrayal
I feel the same way.
Um, ewwww.
This really ins’t a funny matter… we have rid ourselves of a lot of diseases that can seriously harm or kill our children with vaccines… I say ship off the people who don’t want to vaccinate their children t a third world nation so they can see first hand the effects of polio or measles. They are so worried about the additives in vaccines that they are willing to risk their child’s life with some silly disease that is completely preventative. If the vaccine scares them, wait till they see a run down hospital full of children suffering and dying from a fully preventable illness!
Hey, have Evan and my daughter met?? Because I swear she has been sick the majority of her 15 months so far. Snot rivers are pretty much a permanent tenant in our house. And that Pox Package thing? Insanity!! Who would actually do that?!
Jocelyn @ ScooterMarie recently posted..1 year
WOW! NASTY! I get mad when my kid forgets to cover her mouth with her arm (not her hand that’s not allowed bc then she will touch something I may have to touch later) * I don’t do snot, slime, spit, call me a bad mom but eh it happens. So I find this totally and utterly disgusting. I saw this article on yahoo yesterday but decided not to read it. I hate reading the news and for reasons like this the world is full of disgusting idiots I could do with out.
I remember my experience with chicken pox as a kid, it was 2 weeks of hell and misery and I would not wish that on my kids. I even have scars on my face from it! I gladly gave my children the vaccine when my doctor told me about it. I wish they had the vaccine when I was a kid, my mom does too.
I have scars, too. It was AWFUL.
ROFLMAO! Thank you! You are So thoughtful! I love that first pic of your son! His expression is so ‘Damien’! Cute & evil wrapped up in one germ spreading package! I love boys! I was blessed with one son & treasure every devious grin!
Licks from strangers?
The woods is full of ‘em.
Alexandra recently posted..My Weekend Was Not Mine and Now It’s Monday
That is disgusting! Makes me not want to buy lollipops at all!
Nicole recently posted..Two sick babies
what the hell?
That is the most disgusting thing I have ever heard of!
debi9kids recently posted..Ack! Enough already.
I think your son must have been hanging around with my kids last year, because we had one of those illnesses. That lasted all year. One got sick, then the next, and around it went. Never ending. So far, so good for this school year, but my god, I know it’s coming.
I would only buy a tissue from you only if it came with a nurse to get everyone back to healthy again.
C @ Kid Things recently posted..Going for Broke with the Tooth Fairy
I’m all about people doing what they believe is *best* for their children, but this is so irresponsible. What happens when some lunatic infects the lolly with something worse, like Hep C?
It isn’t likely that kids will die from chicken pox, but it is even less likely they’ll die from the vax.
Talk about the death of common sense… {sigh}
Jenny recently posted..Thankful To Be A Nominee!
Amen! How is something from a total stranger of unknown medical history considered a safer route to go than a certified sterile vaccine?
Exactly.
I don’t know why these parents do things like this. There is a much easier way, just hold a party at the Chuck E Cheese nearest to where I live. That is how my daughter got the chicken pox, and it is also the reason my kids have re-named it as the Yuck-E Cheese.
lesa recently posted..26 Days of Thanksgiving: Letter G
Ben is insisting on having his birthday party there this year. I want to cry.
If your children do not suck their thumbs or fingers, you may be able to get out of there without contracting the plague. If you decide to have it there, my advice is to NOT let your children go into the tunnels. I will not go into the gory details, but depending on the place, it can be bad. Also, bring germ spray and lotsa luck vibes :)
lesa recently posted..26 Days of Thanksgiving: Letter G
You’re funny, they’re not. That’s crazy that people actually did that. I can see the chicken pox party with friends, so it gets over and done with, but strangers mailing “sickness”, gross.
Carolyn recently posted..Don’t Spend to Save
I heard about these! Unbelievable and flat out weird.
JG recently posted..The Blatant Irresponsibility of Michelle & Jim Bob Duggar
Parents are crazy. Crazy. Crazy. That’s one of the more irresponsible things I’ve heard in a while! Your son, however, is very cute. I’s take him in a second, but he’s probably come back in worse shape from our germs, and then you might unfollow me or something. Too risky.
Practical Parenting recently posted..TV Appearance: Back to School Stress
I’m pretty sure it doesn’t get worse than our germs. Does tomorrow work for you?
I actually remember a friend of my Mom’s bringing over her five kids when my brother contracted chicken pox so that they could all get it and be done with it ….
Five kids. To a house with a sick child.
Sure my Mom would rather have sent lollipops, tissues or possibly the plague!
Jill, a bit off-topic but I’ve got a kid like that too (coincidentally named Evan!). The fountain of snot would start every October and last through the early spring. We recently got him tested for allergies and lo and behold, we’ve found a solution. He’s allergic to dust mites (most common during cold and damp months) and with a few changes in linen, bed coverings and some allergy medicine he’s mostly snot-free. May not be Evan’s situation, but just a thought…
A good thought; I’ve never had him tested. Thanks!
Exact same thing happened with our son. For first 7 years of life we lived through 3 bouts of pneumonia, asthma, brochitis…rushes to the pediatrician for nebulizer treatments…and then we tested for allergies! Same! Allergic to dustmites (and other outside pollens) but we went from full on pharmacy in our cabinet to one zyrtec.
Heaven.
Kelly recently posted..Be Enough Me: My Current Truth with No Regrets
So……..so disgusting. Just………..no thanks. At all.
Meredith Bland recently posted..Mr. Sandman, bring me a sledgehammer.
I never understood chicken pox parties and parents trying to make their kids sick. I was 11 when I got chicken pox. I felt horrible, I still have scars and even had them in my mouth. My younger sister came down with it a few weeks later and ended up in the hospital for a week.
I jumped at the chance to get my kids vaccinated.
love the pics.of your boy,got one around that age too.and 4 girls, three are teens.But as c@kids Things said when one gets the flue they all gets it one after another.Right now two has the bug and counting.If I didn’t mind the coughing and the colored spewing with the coughing,I would take u up on the used tissue offer.But already got my hands full,but do check him out for allergies[ they can make your life miserable,speaking from experience ].
I read about this a day or two ago and was mortified. I mean really? Isn’t it in everyone’s best interest to keep your kids as healthy as humanly possible? Not make them sick on purpose? Am I the only one who thinks this way?
I’m 61 years old. When I was a kid, yes, if another kids had measles, mumps, chicken pox, etc., your mom would send you over to visit (and sometimes even tell you to kiss the sick kid). But, in those days, there weren’t vaccines for any of that stuff, and the reasoning was that you were going to get those things anyway, so you might as well get them as a kid. Some, like the mumps, did much more damage if you got them as an adult. There is no excuse for that sort of thing now. Some diseases even leave you more susceptible to severe diseases as an adult (like chicken pox/shingles).
wow, wow, wow! I’m quite horrified at the thought of germ-lollies!
Fortunately or unfortunately (depending on which side of the fence you’re sitting on), I have way-enough germs at my house. I’m a mum of 5, and a doctor – I meet germs everywhere, I bring them home, my kids bring them home, they meet and hibernate, probably everywhere in my under-cleaned-due-to-lack-of-time house, and I’ve officially given up. I’ve decided to just co-habit with them, haha! Germs, mothering, doctoring and all manner of bodily secretions seem to go hand-in-hand.
And just like you, I have my own snot-box delight, my 2.5 yr old JoJo – if you have a moment, have a read of this post, or just look at the pic (it may be enough!) – http://thingsithinkaboutwhenihavetimetothink.blogspot.com/2011_09_01_archive.html#.Trp_FHGrBT4
xx
FennyPenny recently posted..Just keep your eyes on those evil rollers…
That’s absolutely disgusting. It’s one thing to expose your kids to friends that are infected, but random stranger germs? Would you lick a pre-licked lollipop?
I can also tell you that exposing your kids is no guarantee. My Mom dragged me around to every kid’s house that had the pox and I never caught it. I ended up being vaccinated as an adult when the vaccine came out.
So spare your kids the other germs and just get the vaccine.
Mommy Shove recently posted..November 8, 2011 ~ Hungry, Hungry Billy!
First of all…what a little cutie~pie your Evan is [and booger~free in those photos too!!!] My 2 boys are the very same way….snotty nose and cough pretty much year round…except for this year,their Dad and I have been sick more than them:/ Love to read your blog….and really looking forward to your book!!! Thanks for the laughs~~Lisa:)
My oldest was much the same way, and whatever she got took much longer for her to get over than anyone else. She’d be sick for two weeks and her sister would be over it in two days, without exaggeration. She had tubes in her ears and many rounds of antibiotics for throat & ear infections. Eventually she had her tonsils and adnoid tissue removed. She hasn’t had a doctor’s visit since, except for routine stuff, it’s been two+ years!
I’m not suggesting it’s the answer for your son, I was just amazed at the difference in her ability to fight stuff off now.
Trish recently posted..The Nick-Kelsh-You-Post-it-and-I’ll-Comment Marathon results
Wow, you really can buy anything on the internet these days! I wouldn’t have purchased anything myself, but I’m rather amused. Back when I was a kid, I pretty sure it was common for kids with chicken pox to play with non-sick kids so they could get infected. Of course, that was also before they created a vaccine for it.
Just came across you blog and will be following. Thanks for the laughs!
Corinne O’Sullivan recently posted..How To Change An Active Baby’s Diaper
Oh wow, this is incredibly disgusting!
Congrats on turning in your manuscript.
I risk breaking the spell by posting this, but you gotta live dangerously: My kids never get sick. Every once in a while they’ll get a snotty nose, but they’re never sick enough to keep home from school. The only time my kids were absent from school is when we went to visit my in-laws in The Netherlands. Turns out, you can’t miss more than ten days without an excuse or you get kicked out of pre-K. Yep, my boy was only 4 when this happened. I guess seeing your grandparents isn’t a good enough excuse for the public school system. He’s back in Kindergarten now and we have no plans on going anywhere until the school year is over.
We also have no plans on getting sick.
Odd Dad recently posted..Wedding stories
As the oldest of Five Children, I was deemed my Mother’s science project. I missed a lot of school my first year, so my Mother scoured the neighborhood and friends for kids with diseases I had not had yet in an effort to get all my childhood diseases over with in one year. I’m suprised I didn’t get bed sores from entertaining a vast group of sick kids in my room playing board and card games. Needless to say, I took one for my sibs cause she never tried it on any of my Brothers or Sister.
Ok, I’m not a conspiracy theorist, but would this not be a great way for a not-so-nice person to get many people sick with something horrible? I’m all for exposing my child to things to build up his immune system, but this seems reckless and unnatural.
Cassie recently posted..Baby Fever
Oh that is disgusting (the fb group not your son). I have a walking germ-maker too so I think I’m all set and will not need another boy to keep us sick all winter long.
Jessica recently posted..I Have Been Waiting For This
@Vinobaby is right, I don’t know any parent who like to see their child suffering from mumps or chicken pox. I have experienced it and it is horrible, you can’t go out or even eat the foods. When it comes to colds, I think it is natural, my brother always had it and every morning I had it as well, I think it is allergies.
Carina Schlanker Bauch recently posted..Lebensmittel, die schlank machen
I always wondered what chicken pox tasted like. Is there a money back guarantee?
Chris @ CleverFather recently posted..6 Month Sleep Regression Simplified
Wow, getting sick is bad enough. When your kids are sick it is even worse. But not knowing where it is coming from and what else may come with it – yuck!
eww…stomach is churning. But its so entrepreneurial of you to offer your child ;)
imperfectmomma recently posted..for you friday
I can’t believe that people would volunteer to have a sick kid! I can’t wait for the colds to go away when they land at our door.
I have mixed feelings about this post. Very mixed feelings.
Lu Purcell
What will they think of next.
Oh Wait, I found some toilet paper on my floor, partially used. Who wants to buy it? highest bidder on ebay? anyone?
Ewwww.
Regina recently posted..Slow Cooker Chili
That about sums it up.
Lu Purcell
Ha, ha! I love this post! Whilst I would prefer for my boys to contract, say chicken pox for example, when they are younger, I draw the line at actually infecting them on purpose!!! What happens if you don’t get ill from eating the lolly, do you get your money back? :D
I am actually pretty scared to learn this. I am really afraid of diseases much more is there are people who are infecting others on purpose. The gifts with spits and infections are disgusting. I hope this kind of activity stops.
I hate to even type this… But my first/only baby boy had a cold from September until March last year. This year, he’s just fine. Knock on wood!
And the market for getting kids sick? Helllllo weirdos, enroll your child in day care!
Hatton recently posted..What about me? {the dog blogs again.}
Haha! Gross! I can’t imagine ordering something like that, now…ask me in a few years :-). But for now, I’m laughing. Thanks!
Chrissy recently posted..Thanks, Mom!
That is honestly one of the strangest things I have ever heard. In mah life.
That said–as a parent who homeschools the childrens, I do understand the burning desire for a sick day. My kids haven’t been sick a day yet this year. Good for them! (insert weak sarcasm). A mild fever would be nice. Nothing too harsh, just enough to justify me cancelling school for a day and watching three movies in a row.
Team Suzanne recently posted..A very gangsta holiday