I hate to be a ex-smoker snob but..

[HawkeyeFLA]

Good to see my fellow Floridian again.
Man it is HOT this 4th of July over here on the RIGHT coast!
Bullette says woof

Here in Central it's nice and overcast. Weather.com has this to say:

Ugh. I just heard thunder.

From Weather.com

Next 6 hours
Showers and thunderstorms becoming widely scattered then ending by late afternoon. Decreasing clouds with temperatures steady in the low 80s. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph.

Just checked the hourly. Looks like by 10p when the boom booms go off at Epcot, it should be cleared up. I'll just seek cover somewhere if I have to. Maybe the amazing Sake bar in Japan, or La Cava de Tequila in Mexico.

 

[Stinknugget]

Today my 13yr old son was invited to a friend's house. My daughter took him. I picked him up a couple hours later. When the kid's mother came out, she had a cigarette in her hand. Now even though I used to smoke, I NEVER smoked in the house or around my children. I was horrified to see that people still smoke inside a home with children present. My son's clothes reeked of cigarette smoke and I'm on the second washing (this time with vinegar) because the first washing didn't erase the cigarette smell. Other than that, the woman seemed nice and my son said he had a good time. We have invited the kid to our home tomorrow. What happens when they invite my son over again? I'm not so much worried about him being around second hand smoke for a couple hours but they whole thing bothers me. I'm having to wash his clothes multiple times to get the smell out. A few years ago, a cousin gave him a really nice coat for Christmas. But the cousin smoked and the coat was very smelly. It took me several (like 5) washings and then hanging it out in the sun to get the smell out.

Should I let my son go back over there? Should I give an excuse if he's invited again, (which I'm sure he will be)? Should I just come out and tell them that we don't smoke and are having problems with our son being in a closed up home, subjected to second hand smoke and that I'm having trouble getting the smell out of his clothes? Should I tell them that their son is welcome to come here but I'm not comfortable letting my son come to their home?

I don't want to be a snob. But I have a nice home.. clean, and well.. nice. I take a lot of pride in that and work hard to make it and keep it that way. She seems nice but sorta acted like she was "on" something.. like valium or some sort of pain killer that makes one kinda slur their words a bit. Or maybe that's just the way she normally is. She obviously didn't think twice about coming out of the house (that my son was in) with a cigarette in her hand. She seemed thrilled to have my son come over and even gave him some chicken to take home since he was leaving before they had supper. She sent home enough for all of us and it was pretty good!

Anyway, I don't want my son to go back because of the cigarette smoke. Any suggestions of how to handle this?

Don't worry about his clothes. Be more concerned with his lungs. Friends come and go, lungs don't.

 

[MustangSallie]

I'm an ex smoker but I will probably always be very sympathetic to smokers since I was one for so long. This whole business with second hand smoke is blown way out of proportion. It is said that being exposed to second hand smoke is no more dangerous than drinking a glass of milk a day. I don't have kids, but if I did and I was still smoking, they would be exposed to it because I smoked. We have cats instead, who are our kids so to speak, and they breathed in a ton of smoke over the years, and none lived less than 16 years.

Now whatever your thoughts on this, we're only talking about occasional exposures to smoke. That to me borders on paranoia, to be honest. To think that these odd exposures would have some sort of significant impact on your children's health is pretty far out. However they are your kids and I guess you can tell them what to do for now, maybe, enjoy that while it lasts

One of our dogs had chronic lung problems and his lymph nodes where constantly enlarged. He had pneumonia three times before the age of 18 months and he would constantly cough and choke. That was when there was just one smoker in the house, before I took it up again. After I started smoking again, his coughing and choking got worse plus he started acting like he was getting worn out after short bursts of playing. There wasn't a day that would go by that the dog wasn't coughing up a lung. Shortly after my husband and I started vaping, the dog stopped coughing, his lymph nodes are no longer enlarged, his energy level is normal for a young dog and he hasn't had any more cases of pneumonia. Say what you will about the dangers of 2nd hand smoke being overblown, but I'm not so sure. I don't think a couple of hours here or there will negatively impact a 13 yo boy who is otherwise healthy, but I would never subject a child or a pet to a constant life of 2nd hand smoke exposure after my experience with this dog. You just never know who will be susceptible.

 

[lildevil403]

This is easy...introduce a 13 yr old girl into the mix. (We all know how mean middle school girls are) she will inform the boy who has a mother that smokes that she doesn't want to be around it in the house. Then the boy will tell his mom he wants her to quit, and complain to his new friend- your son, who will tell you and now you have a reason to introduce the subject of vaping! Or the boys will fight over the girl and you won't have to worry about him going over there anyway!

Sorry, but I have 2 teenage girls...I can't take anything seriously anymore or I might end up in jail. I wouldn't WANT my kids around it, but until it becomes an everyday thing I'd just look the other way. I know I always got defensive and mean when someone tried to tell me to quit smoking, or preached to me, or that they knew I was a smoker because they could smell it, and I smoked outside as well.

 

[Myk]

One of our dogs had chronic lung problems and his lymph nodes where constantly enlarged. He had pneumonia three times before the age of 18 months and he would constantly cough and choke. That was when there was just one smoker in the house, before I took it up again. After I started smoking again, his coughing and choking got worse plus he started acting like he was getting worn out after short bursts of playing. There wasn't a day that would go by that the dog wasn't coughing up a lung. Shortly after my husband and I started vaping, the dog stopped coughing, his lymph nodes are no longer enlarged, his energy level is normal for a young dog and he hasn't had any more cases of pneumonia. Say what you will about the dangers of 2nd hand smoke being overblown, but I'm not so sure. I don't think a couple of hours here or there will negatively impact a 13 yo boy who is otherwise healthy, but I would never subject a child or a pet to a constant life of 2nd hand smoke exposure after my experience with this dog. You just never know who will be susceptible.

Have you ever seen someone have a reaction to shellfish or peanuts? Does that mean nobody should use shellfish or peanuts?

I think I'm up to 8 indoor dogs that were around not only smokers in the home but this was the party house for all of 2 of their lives, 13 dogs total. Not one of them had that kind of reaction.

Being overblown doesn't mean nobody will react. Being overblown means you take very small number of those with reactions and use that to dictate what goes on with everyone.

 

[MustangSallie]

Have you ever seen someone have a reaction to shellfish or peanuts? Does that mean nobody should use shellfish or peanuts?

I think I'm up to 8 indoor dogs that were around not only smokers in the home but this was the party house for all of 2 of their lives, 13 dogs total. Not one of them had that kind of reaction.

Being overblown doesn't mean nobody will react. Being overblown means you take very small number of those with reactions and use that to dictate what goes on with everyone.

2 kids, 6 dogs, 3 cats only one dog with that reaction. But it was real, and it was incredibly harmful. Would I take that chance again just because it was only 1 dog? No. But I don't judge you or anyone else who does. That's just me.

 

[Myk]

2 kids, 6 dogs, 3 cats only one dog with that reaction. But it was real, and it was incredibly harmful. Would I take that chance again just because it was only 1 dog? No. But I don't judge you or anyone else who does. That's just me.

I don't blame you. I have ramps in my house to help fight off the chance that my Dachshunds will end up in wheelchairs. There's no proof that you can do anything to stop the IVDD but because one of my previous ones had back problems when jumping up I do it just in case.
On the other hand one of my little nuts likes to play frisbee and I'm not going to keep her from being a dog because being active may end up blowing out her back (also no proof of being active or not causing it).

I've often wondered if the in-sneezing was cigarette related and avoided putting my dogs in the smoke stream. Vaping hasn't made a difference.