Yes, when your kids are sick, you should try very hard not to take them into public, especially somewhere there are lots of kids. I will give people that. However. . .
I have seen a ton of posts lately telling everyone that they are horrible people for making the poster's kids sick by bringing all their kids out in public sick. Notably, people are getting upset because they seem to always get sick on Monday after church. But here is the thing: it takes several days for a cold to become symptomatic, but not as long for it to be contagious. This means 2 things. First, many of the times your kid has picked up something from someone in public, the terrible, inconsiderate person you are criticizing who you seem to think brought their kid out in public just to give your kid germs may not have had any indication their child was sick. And second, if your kid comes down with a cold on Monday after church, it was you who just gave that cold to the whole ward, not the other way around. Similarly, if your school-age child comes down with something on Wednesday, they have probably been spreading those germs since Monday.
Yes, I have spent what seems like months unable to go anywhere with my sick kids and it is irritating. I just flat out kept my second son home for several months during a period where measles had been in the area and he was still too young to be vaccinated. We have switched which parent is staying home in the middle of church so that we can both fulfill obligations in different parts of church, and that is a pain. And we have also come down with runny noses on Monday and I have felt a bit guilty because we probably just gave that cold to the whole congregation. Actually, I have had my kid come back to me after nursery with a runny nose he definitely didn't have when I dropped him off. But even though I have a cold today that I probably caught on Sunday I am not going to assume that someone knowingly sent their kid with a cold. I won't even assume it about the kid that once coughed in my face. And I won't assume that every kid I see with a runny nose in public has terrible, inconsiderate parents. After all, runny noses happen for a lot of reasons, many of which are not contagious (like crying or allergies, for instance) and they also can start up in the middle of nursery just as well as any other time of the week. Germs happen and in winter they get passed a lot. We can all hope we will do our best, but criticizing everyone else isn't helpful.
Also, you know that sick mom in the grocery store with the sick kids? At some point, she needs to eat as well and you don't know anything about her situation regarding having someone else to watch the kids or grocery shop, so unless you are volunteering to do so, please stop asking why she is there.
And don't even start on getting on planes sick. It is all well and good to say "just fly some other time." Except really think about that for a second. So, your family flies to Hawaii for Christmas break and all of your kids get a cold while there. Apart from the fact that re-booking a flight home after everyone is better is most likely prohibitively expensive, you have to get back to work, your kids have to get back to school (when they are better), you have to pick up your dog from the family that is watching him, the person who is watering your plants is going out of town now, and you don't really have anywhere to stay until everyone gets better except the hotel that you would then have to stay longer at (and pay for). Are you really telling me you are just staying until everyone gets better? Or maybe it is a funeral everyone is flying to. Or maybe they are moving and starting a new job the next day. I guess what I am saying is that is it pretty presumptuous to assume that every person has all the flexibility in the world to just have a sick day.
Here is what I would rather see happen when you see someone with sick kids. Instead of worrying about how they will make your precious angels sick, maybe wonder what you can do to help them. When your kids come down with something maybe worry about helping them feel better instead of cursing that person who got you sick. And maybe just pull yourself out of this fantasy world where you have never ever sent your kids anywhere with cold germs and admit that you have been the person who unintentionally made everyone sick.
