Germs

Our house has become infested with germs. It's rather depressing. After spending most of the summer sick-free, within the last month all four members of the family have come down with colds. It's hard to remember the order, but I believe I was sick first with allergy-type symptoms. Being the CEO of the house, I cannot afford a sick day. I trudged through, telling the kids I couldn't do all the fun things they wanted simply because I didn't have enough energy. And it's hard to fix food for people when the last thing you want is nourishment.

Then Phil became sick. I received the dreaded phone call from him while he was at work. He uttered the five words no woman wants to hear: "I think I'm getting sick." I told him to tell his boss and see if he could get home on an early train. Did he listen? I think you know the answer to that. It was a little inconvenient that he was sick over the weekend, necessitating the child-handling all to me, but when you're sick, you're sick. He even admitted he'd rather be sick during the week, since he would rather be doing anything but rest on the weekend.

Last Friday, Riley woke up with extra sniffles. She acted fine, other than the need for an extra Kleenex or two, so I got her ready for school. After school, her teacher told me that Riley said she wasn't feeling well, but she participated in all the activities and ate snack. So I guess she couldn't be too sick. Unfortunately for Riley, she lost her voice on Saturday due to whatever bug she picked up. It was rather cute to hear her talk, all hoarse, but I felt bad that she was still under the weather.

Wouldn't you know that Jeremy got sick on Monday and Tuesday. Guess he was feeling left out. I knew something was up when he just wanted to sit in my lap at 11 a.m., and the next thing I know he fell asleep. Having a child sleep on your chest is just about the best feeling in the world. With a 102.5 fever, I couldn't blame the kid for feeling a bit sluggish. He slept for about 45 minutes, ate some lunch, and took a monster 3-hour nap. After loading him up on Tylenol, he began to feel better and was well enough for a visit from grandma on Tuesday evening.

I pride myself on my children rarely getting sick. Riley didn't have her first ear infection until last year. Jeremy (*knocking on wood*) has never had an ear infection. Ever. It's rough when the family is sick. Let's just h ope this isn't a precursor to how this winter shall be!