funny question

Parents can be so funny. I had a parent ask once if the reason their child had a fever could be caused by them not getting enough milk. No seriously, the parent asked this...

The child was not feeling well that morning. He had been cranky, crabby and clingy and he wouldn't play. I felt his forward and sure enough it was hot. I took his temperature and he had a fever of 102. I called the mom and told her and told her someone needed to pick him up within the hour if possible. When the mom came to pick the child up I was settling the other children down for their nap. Usually if you're the primary care giver of the child you're the one who talks to the parents as well at the end of the day etc. However, because I was busy the mom went to my co-teacher who had just finished changing a diaper.

Anyway, the mom went over to my co-teacher and she was telling the mom how the child had been cranky and crabby all morning, how he didn't eat anything etc. The usual things that trigger that something is wrong. The mom then asked my co-teacher if the reason the child has a fever could be because he isn't getting enough milk. I was moving to help another child settle down for nap and looked at my co-teacher like 'did she really just ask that?' My co-teacher explained that the fever had nothing to do with the child's intake of milk and that fevers are caused by viruses. The mom kept going on about the child's intake of milk and how she was concerned about the child's intake of milk and kept asking in different ways if the fever was caused by the intake of milk the child was getting. My co-teacher once again told her it had nothing to do with the intake of milk and that the child probably had a virus of some sort and that she needed to take him to the doctor.

When the mom left with the child my co-teacher and I looked at one another unsure of what to say to one another. I said, "I didn't dare look at you again because I saw you were having a hard time and trying not to say things you shouldn't."
She said, "Girl..."

The mom took the child to the doctor and it turned out the child had the common childhood disease called roseola. It is not connected to the intake of milk a child is getting...