It feels like this sick season has wore out it’s welcome. Even though my crew has remained relatively healthy, dodging germs feels like a full-time job. Last month, Wren tested positive for Covid and a few days later, Rose did as well.

Last week Rose likely had the flu, as she was wiped out and missed four days of school. All the while, I am constantly reminding all of the girls to wash their hands and “sanitize” every time they enter the car after school or activities.

If you’ve read my writing since the beginning of March, you probably know that our weekends have been consumed by sports and dance competitions. Many of Wren’s dance friends have come down with the flu after their first competition weekend. With another competition weekend approaching…I just want Wren to stay healthy.

Last night, when I picked her up from dance class, she looked exhausted. She said she was “fine.” I know missing out on this coming weekend’s competition is not something she wants to happen. I worried that she wasn’t being honest.

When we got home, I pressed. “Does you head hurt?” She nodded. I whipped out the thermometer and immediately pointed it at her head, 97.1. I aimed at three different spots on her forehead, not satisfied that the first reading was accurate. She didn’t appear to have a temperature, still I calculated in my head…if this is day one of the flu, could she be better in time for the weekend?

I got busy prepping dinner and Wren got cozy on the couch. Before I knew it, she was asleep. I zapped her with the thermometer every fifteen minutes or so, sure that she was about to spike a fever. The flu was looming. She remained cool, never knowing that I had hit her with the thermometer several times as she slept.

That night, when prompted to head upstairs for a shower, Rose whined from her cozy spot on the couch. After her first day reentering the world, attending school and dance for the first time in a week, I knew she was also exhausted. She never made it to the shower and by the time I was ready to head up to bed, I nudged her sleeping body, still on the couch. She was dead asleep, so instead of setting off the tears I knew would come from trying to move her, I left her.

Around 11:30pm, I woke up disoriented and quickly realized I had fallen asleep in Adi’s bed. If you’ve been reading my blog for any length of time, you probably know that this is a constant. I’ve had to lay with Adi nearly every night for her 10.75 years of life. These days, I usually fall asleep there and move to my own bed after a few hours. As I settled back into my own bed, I heard Rose whimpering from the doorway. “You woke up?” I said. The whimpering continued. “Do you need me to come lay with you?” I asked.

There was a sloppy sounding “yes”, as I hurled my legs back over the side of the bed and walked Rose back to her room. As I settled into her twin bed, she continued to cry. Eventually, she said, “My ear hurts.” This was not an illness I was anticipating. A fresh set of worries began formulating in my mind.

I responded to Rose’s declaration about her ear with my usual onslaught of questions, “Does it hurt a lot? Did it just start hurting? Does it hurt on the inside?’ Rose isn’t very good at articulating answers to these types of questions. But I once again got up, retrieved some Motrin, and settled back into her bed….where I began devising a plan. How could I get Rose to the doctor tomorrow? What do I have going on at work? How can I finagle being at a grade-level meeting first thing and get home to get Rose seen by a doctor? What if Wren is also sick? I eventually worried myself to sleep…

While my children’s health is probably mostly beyond my control, that doesn’t stop me from worrying. I’ll be happy when this sick season has passed and I can fill my head with other things to worry about!