Should I be scared of chickenpox??

This week I was invited to a mummy bloggers picnic to learn more about chickenpox. It was our first outing as a threesome and I think Big Brother possibly had the best day. He’s really into trains at the moment so a trip on the tube with a quick stop off at St Pancras to see the big trains was easily the highlight of his day.

When we arrived at the venue he was entertained by a face painter (who kindly painted Gordon from Thomas the Tank Engine on his forehead). He played really well with the other children and I was so proud of him. Part of me kept expecting him to come and find me but I don’t think he even realised I wasn’t in the room with him.

Anyway, the real purpose of getting together with the other mummy bloggers was to hear about chickenpox, which is a really common childhood illness, from Dr Sarah Brewer who is an expert in child health. I listened to her talk about the symptoms of chickenpox and quite frankly heard some horror stories from the other mums! I vaguely remember having chickenpox when I was 3 which I caught from my older sister. I was unlucky to get the spots everywhere and remember being regularly covered in calamine lotion and receiving a penny for each spot, reaching the grand total of £1.60 (not a bad sum back in the early ’80s).

I learned some interesting facts, such as chickenpox parties are a bad idea (you can never tell what other germs you may be sharing!), and that all children react differently to chickenpox as they will have varying levels of immunity and therefore symptons. Apparently Piriton Syrup and Tablets can be used for the relief of allergies and the itchy rash of chickenpox which I never knew but I may be rushing out to buy some at some point!

Disclosure: I was invited to the picnic to learn about Piriton for the relief of chickenpox but all ideas are my own.