A Plague O' Both Your Houses

'Tis the season of sickness and it has come to rest upon my house.  I'm telling you I can't remember a more persistent season of illness in my home than this present one.  As soon as one of my girls gets over a bug another one gets it or something new, just to keep us on our toes.  None of the girls have been very sick rather they have all been intermittently "under-the-weather" for the past couple of months. 

Finally it has come to a head this week (I think) with Evie having a low grade fever for the past couple of days and generally just feeling like crap.  It has wiped her out (thankfully due to a school bus cancellation on Monday because of weather and the teachers' strike today, she has only missed one day of instruction at school).   I think she has emerged from the worst of it and is on the road to recovery but it sure has taken its toll on all of us. 

The past few nights have been akin to sharing a small room with Doc Holliday except my little Doc requires more attention which I happily bestow upon her.  My poor wife has borne the brunt of the burden this week - it's not easy taking care of a sickly child with two other young'uns in the house.  She has pretty much been housebound herself for the past three days (and just between you and me I think she might be getting a little stir crazy...in a good way).

I'm not sure what's worse, a short burst of violent illness or this long drawn out illness that seems content to slowly grind you down until all you want to do is crawl under your desk at work to have a nap.  I remember a couple of years ago when Evie and Noli had one of those nights of voluminous violent vomiting.  Whew-wee!! That was quite a night.  They were so considerate that they took turns being sick...repeatedly.  It's as if they were on a cycle...as if they had timed and rehearsed the exact time either one would blow.  My wife and I would just finish cleaning up one messy child, tuck them back into bed and be drifting back off to dreamland (that's wishful thinking, we never got anywhere close to dreamland that night) when the other child would puke all over the place.  Despite having buckets and towels in place, I believe we had to change each girls' bed about three times throughout the night.  That was an awful night...

I never stop being amazed at how much one can get done on so little sleep or how difficult being a parent can be.  It's plain draining some days.  I don't have much of a point today except to laud my wife for holding down the fort and to say to everyone else dealing with this bug or that one...I feel your pain.  Here's to better, healthier days ahead!

 Here's a little something for your viewing pleasure and something you can enjoy with your kids should they happen to be home sick with you today.