Flu season

The flu has made its way through our house. Last week turned out much differently than I thought it would - I had such a busy week planned and was barely supposed to be home, but then Mebira got sick and all of those plans were canceled. On one hand, it was nice to have some unexpected time at home, but of course I wouldn't want that at the expense of my child's health. Thankfully, she wasn't hit too hard. She had a crazy high fever during the night for a few nights, but was always fairly normal during the day. It then followed with a cough and cold.

The reason I'm even writing about this, is that it was the first time she has been sick with us. She got the chicken pox shortly before we went to Ethiopia to pick her up, but we had not seen her sick at all until last week. It was kind of a weird feeling - she had a pretty bark-like cough, but I just had no basis point to compare it to. I had no idea if that's what her normal cough sounded like. She also has never come to our room in the night, even if I've told her if she's sad or has a scary dream she can wake us up. I made sure to remind her again, and last week she did come into our room during the night. I was worried about creating a monster, but was also so glad that she came to us when she was feeling gross. I actually enjoyed the bonding time with her, rubbing her back and sitting with her late at night until she settled down again. I felt like I had entered a new world of our attachment...where she was helpless and just needed her Mommy.

Unfortunately, a day after she was all better I ended up getting sick. I think I got a different variation, but was completely knocked out for 36 hours. Let me just say that the compassion only flowed one way last week - but I guess that's normal behaviour for a 5-year old. :-) We had planned a house decorating night on the Friday evening, and the girls had literally been counting down the days for a few weeks. Unfortunately, there was just no way I could drag myself off the couch.

The bug seems to be moving to other members of my family so I will be sure to make tentative plans from now on. One thing I know for sure - I am SOOO glad that I'm almost feeling normal again. I suck at being sick, and as much as I didn't enjoy it, it's always a good reminder to be thankful for my health. I hope you are able to stay flu-free this Christmas season!