Was I out of line?

I live with my mother who will be 79 this Janurary. She is diabetic and although does well, when she is sick she is hit pretty hard and her blood sugar goes through the roof. I had EMS here about a monhh ago about 5 in the morning because her blood sugar went so low and she didn't get better after I gave her orange juice. T thought maybe it wasn't her blood sugar because she was so out of it I thought maybe she had had a stroke.

My mother told me tonight that a neighbor and good friend called to ask if she could bring her daughter here tomorrow while she got her hair cut as the kid was sick and couldn't go to school. They are wonderful neighbors and do so much for us. Her husband snow plows for me when we get a big snow fall, has climbed on our roof to check the shingles, showed me how to replace sprinkler heads, replaced torn screens in our doorwall, etc.. My mother has babysat on many occasions, watched the children in the mornings and brought them to school, picked them up from school. My only concern is that at my mother's age any illness is dangerous for her. Her blood sugar goes through the roof when she gets so much as a cold not to mention the added danger of any illness at her age.

I called the neighbor on the sly and asked her not to take it the wrong way but told her that my mother gets hit harder with colds and flu than we would at our age. I told her that I would be happy to sit at her house with her daughter while she got her hair cut. She refused my offer and said that was OK that she would just cancel her haircut.

I guess I'm wondering if I should have called with my conern about bringing a sick child here and exposing my mother. The mother said that her daughter was running a fever and she couldn't bring her to school until she went 24 hours without a fever and without medication. Why would she bring her here to expose us? I don't want to get sick, but if I do I'll probably recover. I can't say the same for my mother. Am I not being reasonable? I'm feeling guilty about calling with my concern. I told her that I felt bad, that I was just a worry wort and to just forget that I called and to bring her daughter tomorrow and that it would be OK.

Do you think I was wrong to question her exposing us, espacially my mother to a sick child with a fever? I need a reality check. Am I wrong? I want an honest answer so please don't be afraid to disagree with me.

Fishlips, I don't believe that you were wrong in any sense of the word. Obviously you care for your mother very much. With the possibility of H1N1 around every corner, your neighbor should have thought twice about asking your elderly mother to sit with a sick child. Your offer of sitting at their house was very reasonable. Don't beat yourself up over your decision, you still offered help, which was denied for whatever reason.
My father also had diabetes, I hope that your mother's blood sugar will settle down to normal levels. It's a scary situation to find your parent disoriented and ill, I've been in that situation. My thoughts are with her and with you, her loving, caring daughter.

I don't think you were wrong at all. I would have done the same thing.
Just my opinion but I think the neighbor was wrong for asking your mother to care for a sick child just to go get a haircut. Haircuts are not that important. I think she should be taking care of her sick child herself.

Your neighbor was out of line.

Her kid being too sick to go to school but not too sick to expose a neighbor while she has her hair done? Give me a break......

Anyone who watches TV knows that the elderly and kids are more prone to H1N1, they have saturated the airwaves with this news. You were right to protect your mother and were very good about offering to go over there and sit with the child. You did the right thing.

I'm a diabetic myself and am 63 years old. I go through the same thing your mother does when I get sick. You were 100% right in what you did. I think it was very generous of you to offer your own services instead. Don't give it another thought!

No, I don't think you were in the wrong. I also don't think the neighbor was necessarily offended or put out with you either. She probably just did not have any other options for the child and personally, if the child had a fever and was that sick she had no business handing the child off to anyone.
I don't even go over to my elderly father's if I even think I'm getting sick as I don't want to expose him too. The elderly can be quite vulnerable particulary when they have chronic illnesses they are dealing with.

Thanks everyone for your support. I called my neighbor again first thing yesterday morning to tell her again to leave her daughter here and that I was just being a worry wort and we would be OK.

It's not that I was worried about H1N1. Any illness, even a cold hits my mother harder that it does a younger person plus affects her sugar. If the school does not allow the kids to attend until they can go 24 hours without a fever I think it's because they are highly contagious.

She called my mother a little later and said that her daughter was feeling better and didn't have a fever anymore and that she was going to take her with her for the haircut and to run errands. I still feel bad.