The Summer Cold

Achoo! It’s my turn to be the baby today. I have a cold. A very cruddy, runny nose, sore throat, coughing, want to sleep all day, but can’t cold. In August.

I blame it on Back to School Day last week. That school is a death trap. We stepped foot in there on Wednesday (after having a completely healthy summer) and by Friday- hello cold! I am the only lucky one to have caught this. The kids are all healthy and so is T. Usually, they’ll get it first and after I’ve mopped up everyone’s noses for the 3 weeks it takes to cycle through all of the kids, it’s my turn. So, this is a twist for us.

I can’t remember the last time I had a true cold. It’s been quite a while. Elementary school has brought out illnesses that I haven’t experience since I was a child myself. Don’t even get me started on my paranoia of the stomach flu. No less than four times in the first two years of school did I share that lovely morsel with my children. One particular episode began the night before Christmas Eve and continued right through New Years Eve. It involved a new washer and dryer purchase and the rental of a carpet-cleaning machine. I’m still reeling from it through flashbacks. In addition, I have also caught three bouts of strep throat over the last two years. Nice huh? I swear B and A started school and my immune system crashed.

This was our last weekend of summer before the kids go back to school. We were scheduled to go to a lake not far from our house for a weekend of boating and beach fun. I was so disappointed that it had to be cancelled. And even more disappointed that the summer is ending and school type of things like germs are coming back into the picture.

However, I did receive some excellent care this weekend. While I whittled away through a box and a half of tissue (not exaggerating), my little ones and my husband took great care of me. T made me tea. B and A snuggled up on the couch and watched some bad sitcoms and movies with me. And R was well behaved. This was perhaps the best contribution of them all. She is my sidekick and usually cannot do well with out her adequate Mommy time. About every 5 minutes one of them would ask, “Mommy, are you feeling better yet?” “How about now?”

This morning I woke up feeling a little better, have some of my voice back and enough energy to take care of the 3 munchkins by myself for the day. Well, at least enough to throw in movies and make sure no one is seriously injured. Maybe I can even get them to sit still long enough for one last day of snuggles before the craziness of another school year begins, sneezes and all.