This is a very informative thread. Glad it was started. I didn't know you could get chicken pox more then once. I thought once you had chicken pox you automatically had the shingles virus in your body just waiting to pop out sometime.

When I had chicken pox in the late 1960's, all my cousins were brought over to play so we'd all have it the same time. We never had mumps or measles play dates because we all had our shots.

The thing I think is really bad is the lollypop idea-you can buy suckers that some kid with chicken pox has sucked on to give your kid....yuck!

I know there can be serious complications from all the childhood illnesses, I think it's a mindset that everyone gets it and everyone gets over it, like the common cold. And it's better to have it at a younger age. At least before the vaccine that was the idea, maybe since the vaccine has come out people haven't updated their believes yet.

50 and 60 yrs ago we didn't nurse our children on the covers of magazines. We only nursed babies. We had decorum. We also provided the best medical care for them that we had access to and followed the advice of our doctors just as most mothers do today. We are all grateful for the advances in medical knowledge that we have. But the the doctors in 1950 had much more knowledge than the doctors of 1900 had. Hopefully, the doctors of 2050 will have much knowledge than the ones of 2000. Mothers do the best they can.

when my DD was four and I was in grad school and a single parent, I made a playdate for Joy to spend time with a friend who had chicken pox. I timed it to coincide with my break from school. Her father, as was typical, was useless--he had never had chicken pox and could not help by spending time with her for me to go to class so I felt this was the best solution.

My husband just got that shot because he saw how much I suffered when I had shingles. We had to pay for the shot ourselves. Insurance wouldn't cover the cost because he is under 60 years of age. I caught shingles at 54.

So True! What you need to know is once you have the chicken pox the virus is always in your body. At the age fo 68 I had the shingles from the front of my chest to the back of my spine. Shingles are the pox virus reappearing after years of being dorment in my body. Believe me, you don't want the shingles and immunization against it is the only way you can be sure not to have it raise its ugly head later in life. I still have nerve damage that I feel everyday after years of having the shingles. There is also a shot you can receive now ( if older and had the chicken pox) that will not prevent shingles but will lessen the severity of it. If on your head or eyes can blind you, PLEASE don't put your children in this position later in life.

Um pox parties were very common in the eighties before the vaccine, odds are thats how you caught it or from school unless you were born after the 80's. Its way more dangerous if you get it when you are an adult and vaccines are not 100% still a 15% chance, so no I don't think people are stupid. They would just rather their kids go through it when its safer.

I think people using the word "party" freaks other people out.