It's Germ Month!

We seem to have one month every year when we're just incredibly and unluckily germ-laden. These months have always fallen in either January or February. I remember the start of this phenomenon. It was a February. Every single day we had a malady; some new, some recurring and re-infecting. I was just really, really grateful that February was the shortest month of the year. 

And then there was that year that it was a January. On the very first day back to school after the holiday break, Josh woke up with strep throat. The next day he woke up with chicken pox, even though he'd had the vaccine to prevent that very thing. And that's when we learned that the strep and pox viruses can pool together and create a flesh eating bacteria that really has no cure, just a prevention. That prevention is not missing a single dose of meds, which I'm notorious for. I set alarms that week in January, and prevented flesh from being eaten. If moms got paychecks, these are the types of things that would garner a bonus check at the end of the year.

This year, our germy month is February. I'm grateful that it's the 25th. We're almost at the tail end of this, right? We've had influenza in two teen boys, pink eye in Micah, what looked like influenza in Luke but tested negative, and then kept recurring for a week, a recurrence of Micah's pink eye, the worst colds ever for the adults (or was it a lightened case of influenza?), and then just when we thought we were about done with things (because it's the 25th), Micah woke up with pink eyes this morning.

FOR CRYING OUT LOUD.

There was goop in the inside corner of one eye, and the unnatural red color of his pulled down lids were good indications of the recurrence. After spending five precious minutes of getting-ready-for-school time trying to wake him, and another three minutes trying to actually pry his squinched eyes open to get a good look, I told the boy that he could stay home from school and go back to bed. He did. For 90 seconds. I made him a deal then (because bargaining with sick kids is a low point you sink to when you're at the tail end of Germ Month) and said if he allowed me to give him eye drops, he could stay home. Otherwise, he'd have to go to school. Which is a lie, because there's no way I'd send him to school with unmedicated pink eyes. Note: I never lie to my children. THIS IS WHAT GERM MONTH DOES TO ME. 

So I medicated his eyes and we had a wonderful day together. I made him breakfast, and in return he fed the dogs and unloaded the dishwasher. (My bargaining skills get better as the day goes on.) He watched Veggie Tales while I sewed, and at one point I looked out my sewing room window and saw him on the patio conducting an imaginary orchestra, wearing a Grim Reaper robe and a Larry Boy hat.

This is why I'm so eager to find reasons to keep that boy home with me.

And by 10AM it was like his eyes were never pinked at all. So the question of the day is, did he really have a re-recurrence of pink eye, or was it just a messy cold that set into his eyes? Either way, I'm glad of my decision, because I have knowingly sharing germs. It's bad enough that we share germs amongst ourselves, we don't need to be sharing them with others.

Did I mention that one of the french dogs was at the vet this month as well? Because it's Germy Month. We're just a ball of fun here.