Mandatory Illness

It's funny the things you begin to remember about yourself when you watch your own kids live their lives. This week, both kids started running a fever as soon as they were home and back to "normal" after our crazy out-of-town madness of the last few weeks; fortunately, they arrived home on different days (thank you, Gram, for keeping Luke for 48 more hours of insanity!), and so I've only had to hold one hot lump of crankiness feverish baby at a time. Sarah's day was Tuesday; today has been Luke's day. I haven't worried too much about them, though, because I know what this is: this is what happened to me during the first few days of every. single. school break in high school and college - it's what results from staying up too late, doing too much stuff, and allowing sugar to feature prominently in one's dietary choices. The body simply gives out, having finally arrived at a moment of peace in which it is duped into letting down its guard just long enough for a tiny germ to attack and then BAM: thank goodness we are finished with all our big plans because it's time to be SICK.

So today I'm thanking the Lord for Ibuprofen and ready access to family-friendly television. And in spite of myself, I'm relishing the chance to snuggle my long, gangly four-year-old (and his trusty "Christmas blanket"), even if it means that I die of heat stroke. (Did I mention that our downstairs A/C is out again? Just another day in paradise...)