A Vat of Virus

N started it all, over a month ago, when he came home with what was, admittedly, a very mild cold. A week later, to the day, Baroy began bitching and moaning about how congested he was, and how lousy he felt. But he, too, really had a mild case. A week after Baroy, it was my turn: My version was much less mucousy and much more collapsing-into-bed-with-a-headache-and-body-aches-y than theirs was. But still, fairly mild compared to what it could have been/has been in the past.

We hoped against hope that Em would escape, but no: A week after I succumbed--i.e., last Friday--she began to sound sniffly. Except in her case, there was a fever--relatively low grade to begin with--from day one. It is now day 6, and the fever has not only NOT gone away, but it was 102 this evening. She's miserable, and has cabin fever on top of her regular fever. Poor sweetie.

But that ain't all, folks: Last night, N began coughing again. This afternoon, when he got home from kindergarten, he asked to cuddle with me, and I immediately realized he was warm. By evening, his temperature, too, was at 102. I can hear him in his bedroom right now, coughing and moaning in his sleep. Poor baby.

And poor me. Because, apparently, this isn't the same virus he came home with over a month ago...or at least, it's changed enough for him to get it again. Which means Baroy (who is running the LA Marathon this weekend) is next in line. And then me, and then Em, and then...

What goes around truly does come around in this household.