Three Sick Males Under One Roof-OH BOY!

Bring on the mopey. I have three boys in the house under the weather. Husband included. He has a cold that has depleted most of our tissue supply, but he went to work and is happily playing some Warcraft game that I don't pretend to be interested in.

Connor has been running a low fever and took not one, not two, not three but FOUR naps today. Of course, I was at work so I missed the sleep extravaganza, but we all know that is far from normal for little C. He has been extra clingy today, one of those "don't put me down" days. Another indicator that things are going awry is in how little food he cares to eat over the last two days. Connor loves food. I don't know of any food he has rejected. You put food in front of him, he eats it. Broccoli and peas included. Tonight, he ate a bit of his chicken, broccoli and potatoes, but not with usual gusto. He didn't even finish his applesauce. Later, as I tried to rock him to sleep, he chewed on his sleeve, his fist, my shoulder and on the bottle. My educated guess suggests that we are about to be charmed by the presence of some more pearly whites. Let the fun begin (again).

Ian ran a fever all day Tuesday, up to 104 at its highest point. He was playful in the morning and early afternoon. Then, in the wink of an eye, the meltdown fest began. If Connor touched one of his toys, Ian would cry, "He's breaking it!" and sit and cry. Pretty much anything Connor did or looked at brought on a serious fit. I decided they needed some sleep so after 20 minutes of screaming by Connor, both boys took a hearty nap before gearing up for round two. Thankfully, Thomas was home to assist, although he was not up to par himself.

This morning, Ian woke up with no fever, no sign of illness so I sent the boys on to daycare with instructions to call if the fever returned. Ian had been complaining that his tongue hurt. Thomas and I checked it for canker sores or a bitemark and didn't see anything. At daycare, he continued to mention his tongue was bothering him. Alexis wasn't sure what it was either and she knows pretty much everything baby-toddler related.

Tonight at dinner, the poor child is sitting with his plate of chicken, potatoes and a piece of broccoli (untouched, I might add) with the usual pool of ketchup. The potatoes went fine. We asked him to eat one piece of chicken, which he started but ended up crying. Normally, he cries when he doesn't want to eat something, so neither Thomas or I gave in to that and insisted that he still eat that one piece of chicken. (meanies) More tears and I finally help him coat the chicken in ketchup, which he deemed worthy enough to try. He popped in his mouth and began crying more.

Finally the light dawns on us after considerable time coercing Ian to eat that damn piece of chicken, our brains click on that perhaps it is not the tongue, but his throat that is hurting. Out comes the flashlight and lo and behold, a white, icky looking throat with red spots. Nice. No wonder the kid is wailing when I am force-feeding him acidic coated chicken. Wake up and smell the doctor's appointment. That will be for tomorrow's adventure.

Now, here is the bonus in all this craziness and it might seem, I don't know, a little selfish or something. The boys curl up so cozy when they aren't well! They stop the busyness of their day and seek me out. Connor crawls and stands up on me, with his little head buried in my neck or just lays my lap while I play with Ian. It's so tender. Ian lying on the couch tonight where we could rub his back, ruffle his hair and just let him be quiet and restful. Ian resting in my arms like he was a baby once again, thumb in mouth and eyes closed. It doesn't last long, it seems that he has already taken flight when I am still down on the ground. But when they land, however briefly, to rest.......I just don't have words to describe how wonderful it is to be needed and loved by my children.

But, do they all have to be sick at the same time??