Day Sixty-Six: Sick Days, Again

H1N1 has done its deed at the Harrington house this week. One after the other, we all dropped like flies. It started with the youngest and has progressed through us all, sparing Jack in its wake. As I predicted, once the kids all recovered, I got it and am down for the count. Of course, this virus is sneaky, so it waited until the right moment to rear its ugly head. Once all kids, flu free, were sent off to their cousin's house for the night, I started hacking and sniffling the entire drive home. I wearily looked at my husband in a fever induce delirium and croaked, "But we have to have sex, there are no kids in the house!" I'm sure I was looking hot, and not in a good way.

So far, this pandemic has not lived up to all the media hype. All that I have experienced is 24 to 36 hours of flu symptoms and then all is again right with the world. Of course, I am blessed that none of my children have chronic illnesses or weakened immune systems, so this strain was easy on us. I am also internet savvy enough to know how to look up information when the media started bombarding us with doom and gloom stories about this illness. I was speaking to my sister-in-law, who is a pediatric nurse, and she has spent the better part of a month simply peeling parents off the ceiling when their children come down with a cough. It really is crazy that the fear factor has been the story and not the virus itself. Ratings beget sponsors which beget money which is the root of all evil. This media storm is just one small example of how true that cliche really is.

I'm now going to crawl back into bed, as I have been up for a whole hour and I am now exhausted again. The house is so eerily quiet that I'm not sure that I will be able to sleep. It will be a mere five or six hours and the house will once again be ringing with full throttle chaos. I will happily lie awake in the silence, if need be. For now, it looks as though we are out of the illness woods and facing the craziness of the holiday season. I hope we are able to enjoy it without more bed rest and Motrin. I wish the same luck for you and your family.

UPDATE: Yes, Jack got it as soon as I picked them up today. I can be thankful that he got it over with before Thanksgiving. I will say that this is the first virus that has attacked each and every one of us. A bit unusual, but so far, nothing we can't handle.