The Den of Sickquity

By Amber

My family is at week seven of The Plague. For the math geniuses out there, this means we have been ill for the duration of 2007. Happy New Year, indeed.

A friend recently made the astute comment that we are frequently sick at our house. Gee, y'think?! I once had someone criticize me for all the activities I do with my kids and how I surely expose them to all kind of germs on a daily basis. Because sitting on our bored-to-tears rears (and believe me, you don't want to visualize a liquidized butt) at home and keeping them healthy is surely the better option?

Here's the flaw in that argument: I'm the one who gets sick first. And then I graciously infect my young because that's just the kind of loving mother I am. The reason for my frequent illnesses is I have what is called a low white blood cell count. For those who don't know, white blood cells fight infection. So even though I eat right, exercise daily, and live a healthy lifestyle, the smallest trigger (like, umm, say, extreme fatigue) sets me off.

Two weeks into our most recent plague, I broke down and took my kids to the doctor. This was a big deal for me because I have an extreme aversion to anything medical. I was raised in an unjust world where I could never fake sick because my mother dragged me into the doctor over any little sniffle. I was denied the basic right of any kid to skip school once in a while because I just didn't want to go. I still blame Canadian socialized medicine.

The latest problem is that we have infected Grandma, the same woman who recently took the sick-and-afflicted for a few hours. The same woman who was supposed to babysit this week while my husband and I attend an NHL hockey game between the our favorite rivals. Oh, and did I mention we have a suite and we were also invited to dine at the private restaurant?

That sealed the deal; Emergency Get Grandma Well Intervention was in order. We busted in on her, stuffing her full of homemade chicken soup and vitamins. The jury is still out as to whether we'll be able to go so just let this be a lesson to you:

DON'T INFECT THE HAND THAT BABYSITS YOU.

Amber is a former adventure-travel writer turned adventurous unraveling mother to two-year-old Hurricane Hadley and baby Bode.

Comments

[Karen]

We're there, too! Hopefully you get out soon!

[Anjali]

Oh, I'm sorry, and I hear you LOUD and clear on this one. We have been sick the past month. Here's hoping March brings the cures for all our maladies!