Sick

There's actually a reason I haven't been blogging this week, and it isn't just because I didn't have anything to say. I'm on day three of not going to work because I've been sick, and it really hasn't been much fun, even though, unfortunately, it has become a mother-son bonding experience.

I felt it coming on Tuesday. Somebody at work said, "What's up with your voice?" And I'd had that just-not-quite-right feeling and took some Ibuprofen a couple of times. By Tuesday night, a cough had set in, the aches were pretty apparent, and my voice definitely had that gravelly sound. Henry was over that evening, and I warned him to sit at the opposite end of the couch. (He didn't--and now I've been panicked ever since that he's going to get "it.")

By Wednesday it was full blown, and when I called the office to say that I wouldn't be in, I'm sure the pathetic sound of my raspy voice convinced the listeners at the other end that Annette, in fact, was one sick person. And poor Jonathan suffered through an entirely wasted snow day for him on Thursday because he woke up with symptoms just like mom's. Headache? Yes. Sore throat? Yes. Just generally achy? Yes.

And poor Katie, with a solo and ensemble vocal competition Saturday morning and a homecoming dance Saturday night for which she has had a dress for a very long time, lives in fear and pops Echinacea like candy.

It's been a less-than-amazing week at the Selden house. And yet, this too shall pass.


As Henry and I discussed friends who face much more serious illnesses, we both agreed that a nasty little virus was not that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things. And as a result of a trip to the med center Wednesday night to rule out bacterial infections requiring antibiotics, I realized that I now have, for the first time in a long time, an emergency contact person other than my mom and dad--Henry. And in a weird sort of way, that's a nice thing. The other nice thing has been having him call --not to ask what's for dinner or if I can still do something for him--but to ask me how I am (and not just so he can gauge how likely it will be that I can do something for him). For kids, parents never really get THAT sick.

So the weather outside is frightful, and the atmosphere in our house is currently filled with germs and the sounds of coughing and sneezing. But, like every other year, the snow will melt eventually, the air will warm, and spring will come. But for now, I think I'll just take a nap.