SICK & TIRED OF BEING SICK & TIRED

Early last week I came down with a cold. Sore throat on Tuesday, tired and under the weather on Wednesday. Then on Thursday afternoon - just in time for our conference with Hudson's Kindergarten teacher - I started to lose my voice. Feeling rotten, I went to InstaCare on Friday morning, fully expecting to hear that I had bronchitis or a sinus infection. Neither...just a good old fashioned cold. My voice went even further downhill that day and the next. As of Saturday, I could barely whisper. Even attempting to do anything louder was a) impossible and b) painful. I stayed home from church on Sunday, hoping that a day of kicking back would help me get better. That and I didn't want anyone to run away from me upon hearing my voice (or lack thereof). When my evening cough got going that night, I took a nice little dose of Codeine cough syrup. Great stuff. But Monday and Tuesday came and went and I certainly wasn't getting any better. Then, to add to the fun, on Tuesday evening Hudson came down with something and was up tossing his cookies off and on until 2:00 a.m. Not good. So yesterday morning, I took him into the doctor. They did a quick strep test (came back negative) and after discussing his symptoms, the pediatrician said it was probably just a 24-hour thing and that if he was feeling better later in the day, he'd be okay to go to school today.

When we woke up this morning and Hudson was feeling great. He ate a good breakfast (and did so much faster than usual), played for a while, then eagerly got ready for school and I dropped him off at the bus stop. I, on the other hand, woke up feeling the same as the last few days and after a few household things like laundry and cleaning a single bathroom, I felt like I needed to take a nap. I called my doctor (who couldn't fit me in today...all booked) and at her suggestion, described my symptoms to a gal over the phone so she could talk to the doc and call me back. A short time after that call, the phone rang. I was expecting it to be that girl calling me back but it was the pediatrician's office calling to let me know that they decided to do an overnight culture on Hudson and that his strep test came back positive. AWESOME! I immediately called the school and then ran down the hill to pick him up. As we walked through the parking lot, the poor kid started bawling when he suddenly realized we'd be missing the Kindergarten Thanksgiving Lunch (which I had paid for in advance and was going to attend with him). He finally calmed down after I bribed him with a Happy Meal and off we went to McDonald's. On the way there, I spoke with my doctor's office again and based on my symptoms, they confirmed what I was already thinking: sinus infection. And after I told them that Hudson has strep, they said that there's a possibility I have it too. Well, if that isn't just super fantastic!! After picking lunch up, it was off to the market to pick up groceries and our prescriptions.

We've been home for a while now. My sick son (who hasn't had any symptom since yesterday) ate his entire lunch in about 10 seconds flat then finished his sister's food when she was done, my daughter is asleep, Hudson has done 2 days or homework, and there's a man here cleaning all of our windows - inside and out. Now if someone would come and do the rest of my laundry and vacuuming (I've already done a good chunk of both in spite of my sick self), I'd be set. Really, we're fine...so no treats or meals allowed from either of you (and you know who you are!). In short, as my title states, I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired...and I hate it when my kids are sick. But at least we're on the road to recovery now. And hallelujah for that!

By the way, all went well with our 1st ever parent/teacher/child conference. Hudson scored 3 out of 3 on everything EXCEPT handwriting. Between his being a boy and having Max for his dad (is handwriting inherited?), there isn't much of a surprise there. I'm just going to have to work with him a bit more and bring those fine motor skills up a notch.