The Sickies

Everyone I know is sick...well, OK, that may be a slight exaggeration. One person in most families I know is sick. That may not be everyone, but that's still a lot of people.

As you probably remember, I was sick most of last week with a nasty head/chest cold. Hubby picked up a little bit of it last week, too. Not much with his bullet-proof immune system and all, but I did hear him sniffing a lot. He's sniffing, and I'm gasping for air. Yeah, that sounds about right.

One of my good friends had this about 2 weeks ago and was sick for about a week. Then, another good friend's kids and husband were sick all last weekend, but she managed to steer clear of it...until this past Sunday night, which meant she had to miss our first Bible study yesterday. Big bummer.

Then at church on Sunday, Father scared me to death. It seems that he had some sort of stomach virus, which started on Saturday, then got to church on Sunday, nearly passed out, was all clammy and colorless. That's OK, we were at church and you pray at church a lot anyway.

Then my other good friend's college freshman daughter is away at school, sick and alone for the first time with the same stupid cold thing. Super big bummer.

And now, after a couple of days of being puny, Son has officially succombed to this illness, has a low-grade temperature, and so we can now call him, yes, you guessed it, sick.

Now, Son has bargaining power.

Me: "Do you want to stay home from school? You have a fever."
Son: (Long pause) "I want to stay home from school, but I want to go to marching practice."
Me: "You can't do that."
Son: "Why not?"
Me: "It's against the UIL rules."
Son: "People do it all the time."
Me: "These are not people, these are rule breakers."
Son: (Look of disgust)
Me: "Besides, the last thing you need to do is march in the heat with a fever. If you want to go to marching practice, why don't you just go to school and try to make it. You are under the 'fever cut-off' temperature."
Son: "But, I'm miserable."
Me: "But you said you want to go to marching practice."
Son: "Yes."
Me: (Look of bewilderment) "Let's just see how you feel this afternoon."

Classic teenager, right? I've learned that after a while, I just semi-agree to whatever so the discussion can stop. Usually I'm so confused that I run out of arguing ammunition. So, that's just what we're going to do: just see.

Ever notice how "we'll see" or "let's just see" can solve all kinds of problems? These are truly brilliant and strategic phrases.

On a happier note, Son tried out for the All-Region Jazz Band last Saturday and made it! This is a big deal because they only have 1 All-Region jazz band, which means they only take 4 trombones. Son was 3rd, which means he also qualified for Area and even got to record a try-out for the All-State Jazz Band! I'm so proud of him! He's really worked hard. He's been going to school an hour early to practice and it's really paid off.

So, I guess my take today is this: Really tired of all the sickness! Ready for the ragweed to do its thing and be done so we can all get back to our health.

Hope you're doing alright in your neck of the woods!