illness strikes

Eleanor and Oliver are down for the count. They have both oscillated between temps of 99.9 and 103.5 for the last four days. They are coughing, not sleeping, irritable, have lost their appetites, and are on a crap ton of medication for which I have started keeping a log of timing of medication and dosage so that I don’t miss anything. I can’t believe what I have to pump their bodies full of to provide just the slightest little bit of relief. I would give anything to be sick instead of them.

They have been out of school (aka. daycare) since Monday and I’ll be surprised if they make it back in this week at all. Consequently I have not had time to do anything that doesn’t involve keeping sick kids entertained and rested; the laundry has piled up, dinner (except tonight because Tim made it) has been largely of the “fend for yourself just forage in the cupboards” kind (especially since the kids aren’t eating), and I’ve been neglecting all of the several dozen pressing work-related items that are coming due in the next couple of days. Needless to say, posting has slowed to a crawl. Or slower.

I’ve also been tossing around a few ideas for revamping this blog, but they are not fully cooked yet and most nights I don’t have the energy to give them the time or attention they need. But change is coming to our regularly scheduled program.

In the meantime, I did manage to post some home remedies for sick kids (well, one [rosemary tea] is for helping with a sick kid, the other [homemade infant formula] is just a consequence of having a sick kid who doesn’t want to eat solid food). I highly recommend the rosemary tea even if you’re not sick. And if you happen to be under the age of 2, I think you might also like the formula. Oliver does, anyway.

{Post Script: the cover image use above is coincidentally the same one I used in this post (from back in the day) when we were living in Arusha and I felt like my family was dying before my very eyes. I actually write that it felt like “Africa was eating us for dinner.” And it did feel like that. And, a little bit, it feels now like America is eating us for dinner. I realize that I can hardly compare this bout of illness to what Eleanor (giardia) and Tim (food poisoning) were experiencing back then, but I’m going to anyway.}