Chances are the topic of this article is going to hit home with many of the Richmond parents out there. That’s right, I’m talking about germs. WHAT IS UP with the insanely disproportionate amount of germs out there this winter? Strep throat, stomach bug, high fevers, it seems like every week my kids are battling something, and this mom is throwing her hands up in the air.
So far this year I’ve been to the pediatrician’s office more often than I’ve been to the grocery store, and I’ve only had one week where all my kids were healthy and at school. (Ahhh, what a nice week it was.) It’s gotten to the point where my kids have started picking up new viruses when they’re already taking antibiotics. Last year I would have found this very troubling, this year nothing surprises me.
I like to sound smart and blame the unseasonably warm temperatures for all the germs going through this house, but deep down I think it’s because I must have said “The kids have been so healthy lately!” sometime in recent months. The gods are laughing at me and sending all the germs to my house. I’m convinced all the little germs are texting their germ friends saying “Party at the Mardigian house!!!” Jerks.
I do feel bad for my kids – they don’t want to miss school and birthday parties, feel like crap all the time and take gross tasting medicine every day. (Can someone please do something to make kids’ medicine taste less like, well, medicine? I’ve resorted to bribery just to get them to take their meds. It would be much easier on my wallet if it actually tasted like bubble gum instead of “bubble gum flavored chemicals” as my oldest puts it.)
But I feel bad for me, too. I’m also dealing with nasty side effects from all this illness. Such as, you ask? Tell me if this sounds familiar.
I go through cyclical periods of obsessive cleaning and washing and then giving up and boycotting the Lysol. My washer and dryer may actually have it worse than I do, and I can’t say I’d blame them if they ran off in the middle of the night.
When I go to sleep at night, I half expect to be woken up by one or more kids either throwing up or having coughing fits. My husband and I tag team dealing with this – it’s a good night when you go to sleep knowing it’s not your turn to deal with any cleanup efforts.
With as often as I’ve had to call my kids’ school to report their absence, the office staff must think I don’t care if my kids go to school. I wouldn’t be surprised if I’m on some sort of delinquent mom watch list.
I’m conditioned to jump up every two hours and yell “Who needs medicine?!?!” and way too much of my brain capacity is spent organizing who gets what medicine when. What was I talking about?
The pharmacist at Walgreens knows way too much about me and my family. I see the pity in her eyes each time I come in for another prescription. And I accept her pity.
And on that note, the medical expense slice of our budget pie chart is dangerously near the size of our “Mom’s not cooking tonight” restaurant slice, and that is downright scary.
Our pediatricians are calling us at home at night just to check in and see how the patients are doing. It’s a nice gesture, but I’d much rather they need to be calling someone else for a while.
Each time the phone rings during the day I’m scared it’s the school nurse calling again. I actually look forward to the calls from Marriott asking me to check out their newest resort property in Florida because at least they don’t need me to pick them up from school.
So, to summarize, because I need to go give someone else some medicine, I’m hoping we are near the end of this illness marathon and a nice long stretch of good health is around the corner. And I hope the same for your families as well.
PS: Richmond moms, thank you for letting me vent – sometimes even trivial things like minor illnesses can get you down when
they seem never-ending. But I am ever grateful that what we’re dealing with is small potatoes compared to the major and chronic illnesses that some children are battling. As our friends at CJ’s Thumbs Up Foundation know all too well, “Every Day is a Bonus” when your kids have a life threatening illness. CJ’s Thumbs Up had their fundraising ball yesterday and we’re hoping they had a very successful and inspiring evening! Go to http://www.cjstuf.org/ to learn more about this wonderful organization and how you can help.
