Like a House of Cards

Every parent has played this waiting game. Cold weather arrives, and virus season is upon us. It’s only a matter of time before your family, parents included, is hit by whatever stomach bug is going around school or daycare. I’m singling out the stomach bug as the particular big, bad virus of the season. Head colds are annoying, yes, but so much more tolerable when it comes to weighing the pros and cons (please don’t make me spell them out for you). And the seasonal flu, even though it’s “widespread” in Maryland, can be prevented by getting vaccines for everyone in the family who is 6 months or older.

Our foursome emerged from the throes of the first bug of the season. I shouldn’t complain – we made it through the holidays without a desperate dash to the nearest sink, toilet or waste basket, for which I am grateful, though we did wind up in the emergency room on Christmas Eve to treat one of Isaac’s seemingly perpetual ear infections. Still, as bad as that was, we parents were healthy ourselves and at the top of our game when it came to sick child management on that one. The same cannot be said for the recent bug, which I hear is making the rounds in our fair zip code.

It started with Isaac throwing up at daycare late in the day on a Friday. We made it through the weekend without anyone else showing any symptoms and we went to bed Sunday night feeling pretty smug. But by midnight Monday, Lucy woke up crying hysterically, having thrown up in bed, the worst night of her life. A few hours later, having been directly in the line of fire, I was next. Of course my husband, Joe, was also affected, as were my in-laws, having cuddled with both kids at our house Saturday night to celebrate Lucy’s third birthday. We fell like dominoes.

Being sick while your kids are sick is such a double whammy: You feel lousy yourself, and then you feel even worse because it’s hard to be at your best when your kids need you. Of course the kids rally so much faster while days later, we grown ups are still feeling weak and crabby; they are ready to play when you are still holding down the couch. But we managed. Lucy even took care of me a little bit, sharing her Pedialyte freezer pops and “Toy Story 2” DVD.