The past week has been spent nursing sick kids back to health. Really sick kids. They've been battling a stomach bug, probably Rotavirus. Four days of vomiting, fatigue and no eating. Just as we were getting back to normal, my eldest daughter, Emily, fell ill with it. She, the baby and I were the healthy ones while the rest were sick. Emily and I had a good time over the weekend hanging out, staying up past her bedtime, sleeping on the couches downstairs, and watching movies.
Now I am the ticking time bomb, but hopefully I will dodge it. The baby received a vaccination for the virus when she was four months old, which is why I think it's Rotavirus since she hasn't gotten ill. I don't know. All I know is that the stomach virus is miserable and it creates a LOT of laundry.
All the sick children were quarantined in an upstairs bedroom four whole days with short breaks to come to the kitchen if they felt hungry enough to eat. They were completely forbidden to enter the family room which was my "safe room." They watched a lot of PBS Kids and Netflix. They were so sick that books were not even appealing to them. Most of them just slept most of those four days. You know your two year old is sick when he abandons Curious George to go to his bed to sleep in the middle of the day and stay there ALL day long!
My husband was sick as well. He was very kind to help out whenever a child vomited so that I could minimize my exposure to the germs. I think that helped. I felt like I was almost neglecting them. I gave them so little love in the form of hugs and comforting because I did not want to go near their contagious germs. Instead I gave them love in the form of cups of ginger ale with straws, juice boxes, ice pops, and little bowls of Goldfish and Saltine crackers. I pretty much would take a deep breath, enter the room, drop off the care package while holding my breath, and run while shouting, "Love you guys!"
The good news is they are back to their normal selves. My nine year old looks like a skeleton. I need to beef her up. I could have used her for a lesson on anatomy. I thought about writing the names of the bones on her body, but I didn't. :)
We are getting back to normal. I've spent the past few days with my previously sick kids, catching up and reviewing some of their workbooks. Hopefully next week we can get a fresh start. I really dislike falling behind and getting off track.
My second grader painted this for her sick sister today. It's not a masterpiece, but very thoughtful of her.
Oh, and do you see my stash of Newmans' Own grape juice down there in the lower right hand side of the picture? I read on Pinterest that grape juice is supposed to prevent the stomach bug, so our family has been drinking it daily for the past five or so months. I totally thought it was working, but apparently it does not prevent all stomach bugs. :)
