Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Sick of Sick

Ok, seriously. This is getting ridiculous. I know it's winter and that babies and toddlers have a way of keeping the family nice and germy, but I feel like we can't catch an illness-break. David has had a cold since late January, which the exception of about 4 days of wellness. During that time Brian and I had bouts of stomach flu. Then last week I finally gave in to David's cold, which seemed to kick me pretty hard, and has now developed into a sinus infection that makes it hard to think about much else. (And my stupid doctor's office won't see me until tomorrow. I am so switching docs when we move). Then on Friday night (in the middle of the housing drama), Katy woke up with a fever. It's been low-grade off and on since then, and I'm thinking she has also gotten the cold, because she just now developed a runny nose. And she hasn't gone anywhere for a whole week because of potty training, so where in the world did she catch it?

This is only the report for the last couple of months. Our family has been sick since October, with small bouts of wellness thrown in for good measure. Maybe I shouldn't take them out as much? But that drives me nuts. Maybe we should never play with other kids? But that makes them (and me) lonely. Maybe I should be dissinfecting the house on a nightly basis? But I don't have the energy, because I'm sick.

This little conversation yesterday was my bright spot:

Katy and I were coloring, and she crawled up into my lap and said:
K: Ahhhh.....Mommy....my best friend EVER!
M: That's nice, Katy, is Mommy your best friend?
K: Yeah, Mommy and Daddy.

Note to self: show to Katy when she's 14.

6 comments:

Giselle said...

Amen! It seems like it used to be an uncommon event when I was up every 2 hours with a sick kid. But now it has become commonplace. Will sleep ever be the norm? Will this cough ever go away permanantly? I feel like the illnesses go away just before I'm ready to take them to the doctor and then they resurface a week later. And then the cycle just continues again. Argh.

Just think of the strong immune systems they are building. Let's hope that our kids won't miss a single day on kindergarten because their body will be immune to everything (let's all have a good laugh at that one...)

Best wishes. I know you guys have a lot of other stuff going on...you don't need to be worn out with sickness on top of it.

bluedaisy said...

I am liking Giselle's "building the immune system" theory- I hope she's right.
Hope you guys are feeling better soon!

Oma Froehle said...

She will still be your best friend at 14 . . . she just won't admit it, and she will not want hugs in public so her peers don't know she likes you.

Erin said...

Ugh! Awful, awful, AWFUL with the sickness. I hear ya on that note.

I don't think it matters one way or the other with going out and getting sick. Our pediatrician tells us that all families just HAVE to go through it at some point. If they never get sick as toddlers, then they typically miss A LOT of school when they start. If they're sick a lot as littles, they tend to be the perfect attendance kids in first grade.

I have no idea if that's valid or not, but I'M GOING WITH IT because my sanity depends on it. All this sick MUST be accomplishing something!

Kelsey said...

Ugh, the sickness. Harper was NEVER sick as a baby. I think she was seriously like 15 months old before she had her first real cold. But of course Michael gets all her preschool germs and is sick a lot... I'm hoping he'll be a healthier preschooler than Harper was.

Also, if they haven't done it already, I'm thinking schools should get rid of perfect attendance awards, it just encourages other kids to come to school when they should be home with their fevers!

So maybe all our kids are getting this illness out of the way now and won't miss so much school when they're older?

Anonymous said...

EM! I concur with everyone else - you have to go through the sickness at some point and it does make stronger immune systems! Also, you can't protect them from everything, so don't make yourself crazy. One day after the scarlet fever, I used those anti-bacterial wipes to wipe down the steering wheel and handholds of a car shaped grocery cart. What did my little boy do? He leaned over and licked the horn! So, I gave up. Also, I really believe that we're building resistant bacteria by trying to disinfect everything all the time. My two cents! love, Dutcher