Los Sickos

 
We were SO CLOSE to making it through winter without any significant sickness.

However, with five of six kids waking up with sore throats (some started last night) it is no longer possible to deny the obvious.

Peoples are sick.

Well waddya know, it's Tuesday....

Never mind. I won't go into that again.

Hopefully it will be a passing cold and no more. The fact that this year's flu vaccine was not terribly effective has made me a little nervous. As long as the three who are getting their yearly academic testing next week are recovered, I'll be happy.

And as long as Loren doesn't get sick, I'll be happy.

And if this virus doesn't do something weird to Derek's heart rhythm I'll be happy.

See? It doesn't take that much to make me happy ;-)

"I guess I'll be doing the dishes all day..." I was heard to casually mention.

"Oh Mommy, that's too bad you have to do that just because we're sick," came the sympathetic reply.

"That's alright. It's much better than that time we all had the flu and I was leaning over the sink, barely able to stand and washing dishes with my very bones aching...."

But truly, we mothers care not.

It's nothing.

Really.

'Tis but our pleasure to serve in humble silence.

All we ask is that we may have the privilege to bring it up incessantly in the future.

So as I was washing the breakfast dishes, I noticed the stove really needed a good wiping off. Also the cupboard doors and drawers, as well as what few remaining knobs are ON the drawers.

Then I noticed the dirty cafe curtain and remembered a load of wash I could add it to....and since I'm going shopping today, it certainly wouldn't hurt to clean out the refrigerator first.

This is just one example of how sick children add to a mother's work load.

I did notice that if I was going to do a REALLY good job wiping down the cupboards, it would take enormous amounts of time....and that's when I remembered that after 25 years of marriage my "pro bono" clause had elapsed, reverting to my back-up "lick and a promise."

Not exactly sure if Loren and I talked about that specifically before marriage, but of course some of that is assumed, heh, heh.

How fortunate that today is shopping day, most of which will be taken up in purchasing the following supplies:

-zinc lozenges
-tissues (have opened the last box)
-garlic
-vitamin C
-children's Motrin
-hand sanitizer

You can be sure that Ma is slurping zinc and snorting Zicam in wild proportions with the unrealistic hope of staying well.

In the meantime, I take comfort in the age old wisdom, "With every cloud (of sick kids) comes a silver lining."

Or in this case, a clean refrigerator.
 

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