Quarantine

Today is the first day since Halloween that I’ve felt somewhat human again.  A cold has been circulating through our house for several weeks but until Halloween morning I thought it would start and stop with Crew and Jax.  But I should have known better.  I mean, Jax’s index finger resides in his nostril 90% of the time.  I know he doesn’t wash his hands every time he picks despite several strategically placed  bottles of “Germ Blaster” a.k.a. hand sanitizer I have around the house.  I should have also known that my immune system is not as strong as my little guys who are constantly crawling through dirt, eating stuff off the floor and doing all the gross things that active little boys do.

Well, Halloween morning I was feeling kinda gross and worn out and I admitted that I had THE cold.  But Halloween is my 2nd favorite holiday of the year so I rested up and pushed through for some trick-or-treating!  Thankfully it was a warm night.

Sunday morning I felt worn out and gross.  No church for this family!  With Crew and Jax still coughing at random and Milo coming down with the same symptoms I had, Carl declared us under a state of quarantine and went about sterilizing every surface in the house.  Thankfully he was still in perfect health and could play Mr. Mom while I camped out on the couch.

Monday was more of the same but oh, Monday night?  Wow.  I can’t remember the last time a cold hit me this hard.  It’s all a blurry nightmare of complete nasal malfunction (how can one be 100% stuffed- like NO AIRFLOW- and yet still be a runny mess?), watery eyes that would make the Biggest Loser breakthroughs look silly, a sinus headache, and a cough that was so deep and body wracking that I had to be careful not to gag in the process.  I was completely incapacitated and helpless.  I hate being sick!

Thankfully, THANKFULLY, that was the worst of it and by yesterday night I could feel marked improvement.  Today I actually have makeup on and “be seen” clothes on.  My voice has taken a hard hit and I’m still coughing but my nose isn’t rebelling against the rest of my face anymore.  But oh, poor Milo.  Maybe Crew and Jax actually had a slightly different bug, but it definitely didn’t hit them as hard as Milo.  Milo is suffering like I’ve been suffering, only he doesn’t get the brief relief of cold meds like I do.  His eyes are puffy, his nose is raw from running so much and his little cry… raspy and so tired.  He seemed to be doing better yesterday but today is again sleeping most of the time or lounging in my arms.  Every time he coughs he looks up at me and lets out a little heartbreaking cry and then tries to distract himself with a toy.  He’s such a trooper.

I have heard of several other families with sick kids, lots of swine flu rumors and I heard 70 kids were out sick today from our local elementary school!  Wow.  Cold and flu season is definitely here.  Looks like we need to have another serious talk about the importance of washing our hands, covering our mouths and keeping clean.  I very much hope we get better soon before my boys kill each other from being cooped up and I lose my mind!