A thoroughly disinfected Preschool Classroom resulting in the remainder of the year being illness free for my children.
I feel like all I ever do is give updates that involve some sort of fever or trip to the doctor with the kids. I am SO sick of it! If I am sick of typing it, and you are sick of reading it, imagine how tired of it the kids and I are from actually living it! UGH!
Seriously. The children were so healthy all summer long - when we were AWAY from school environs. My house is CLEAN. Now we are back to school and Kate was sick a couple of weeks ago, then Liam got sick, and we just spent a lovely FULL week of Kate being so sick that she was essentially quarantined by her doctor and did not participate in ANYTHING for a week straight.
So, yes, you read that right....it was a week straight of me being at home with the kids 24-7 and not going anywhere....and the whole time Nick was on a business trip in Poland.
Kate came down with some very yucky potent virus called the coxsackie virus. Couldn't they pick a better name?! I mean, Ew. Anyway, it is the virus that causes Hand, Foot, and Mouth disease (not the kind that cows get) and other variations and is insanely contagious. Kate got the version that caused her to have a fever of 102 for 5 straight days and a mouth full of ulcers which made it nearly impossible for her to eat or drink. She was Mis.Er.A.Ble. Poor thing. After feeling like a total hypochondirac mother for bringing her to the pediatrician (Again)......I was somewhat reassured by my suspicions being confirmed in that she did have an official virus and it was not my fault that she got it. :) The doc said that schools are basically cesspools of this stuff. Lovely.
SO - a week straight at home with both kids, disinfecting everything that Kate touched or breathed on because I did NOT want Liam to get it. (knock on wood) The kids were actually really great and we watched a lot of movies, did crafts and read a lot of books. Kate napped a lot because the fever just wore her out, and Liam was a sweet little boy and mostly just played with his matchbox cars nonstop. I lived for the chances to talk with Nick when he could manage a call from Krakow or Warsaw just to decompress. Oh - and we have bathroom demolition/renovation going on. woo!
And though I complain, the moments of humor and sweetness are not lost on me. The snuggles from a feverish 4 year old are some of the most heart-filling, snuggliest cuddles ever. And the things that can happen while a 19-month old boy is left unattended even for 3 minutes while the parent goes to change a garbage can liner are astounding. Case in point:
I ran downstairs to empty some garbage and came back upstairs to find that I had left Liam's bedroom door open by accident. A no-no. Of course, when I came upstairs, I found LIam on the floor in his room surrounded by an incredible amount of chaos that he had managed to whip up in such a short time. Things from his drawers and shelves were strewn ALL over the room - clothes, shoes, socks, diapers, books and stuffed animals. He had managed to completely disassemble all organization in 180 seconds. In addition, I noticed a tub of vaseline on the floor from what I thought was an unreachable drawer in the changing table. It was open. With giant finger-shaped gouges in it. And Liam's face was shining with smears of petroleum jelly. Including his mouth. And he was grinning hugely. Oh LORD! Did he EAT Vaseline? First of all, EW. Second of all, the kid will not eat pizza but he will eat greasy vaseline? Third, what can that DO to him? I took a deep breath and decided IF he ate it - since there was no way to be sure - the worst that would happen would be some interesting diapers. I calmly picked up the tub to check any manufacturing info and, to my horror, saw "If swallowed seek medical help immediately and/or contact Poison Control". OH &%$@! So I called Poison Control, remaining very calm. Thankfully - and as I suspected - they said he would be fine and the worst would be some crazy diapers. GOODNESS! Why do they put things like that on there and SCARE people? Litigation fears, that is why!
Anyway - all these fevers, mouth sores, and petroleum jelly ingestion are NOTHING, really. Honestly. My sister's baby girl, Mia underwent surgery on her kidney and bladder this past week! We are talking incisions, hospitals, anesthesia, recovery...the whole thing. And a baby girl who cannot understand why she is in a hospital or why it hurts to go potty now. And a Mom and Dad who have to sit and worry about their baby while she is in surgery and whose little boy is at home with Nana wondering where everyone is. THANK THE LORD IN HEAVEN, Mia is doing well. The recovery at home now is rough because her pain can only be controlled by tylenol and motrin. She cannot take the narcotic drugs of course. Can YOU imagine having a 5-inch long incision in your stomach and not having serious meds? I sure cannot! Percocet was my friend post-op. So...my exhaustion from one Nick-less week of kid illness is NOTHING in the grand scheme. Or even in my family scheme!
I HAD to write about it, though, because REALLY. I just really have concerns about the germ situation going on. PLEASE other parents, let me know - are you experiencing this? I feel bad for Kate - maybe the CMV thing last year just really put her immune system down for a while and it will take her a while to not get everything that blows by her. But if for my birthday gift I can have an illness-free family through xmas, that would be awesome! I also would not mind anything from Sephora! HA HA HA! Just kidding!
Prayers and love to Mia and the whole Morris Crew! We love you love you love you!
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