I don’t know how things are in your neighborhood, but around here, we’ve got so many illnesses going around, I’m sometimes afraid to take the kids to the doctor, because who knows what else they could pick up?  

I count myself very lucky that our health care provider is also a neighbor and friend, so I often call on her informally, so that I know for sure whether a doctor or ER visit is strictly necessary.   Sometimes she’ll just give us informal advice, like “Tylenol and fluids,” and sometimes she’ll say, “Get her to the emergency room now!”

In our neck of the woods, there’s strep, flu, ear infections, and RSV going around.  The usual stuff, I guess, but that RSV is really scary.  There have also been a few meningitis deaths not far from here–another scary thing.

But I think the worst sometimes is that vague, undefined, “just not feeling well” thing they do.  My 6-year-old came home from school and crashed on the couch the other day, woke up long enough for dinner, then crashed again and slept through the night.  He was perfectly fine in the morning.  The girls do the same thing…headache or sore throat, but no other symptoms, no fever, nothing…and they usually manage to get through a school day just fine.

I sometimes think they’re doing it on purpose, just to give me one more thing to deal with, but then I remember that I sometimes feel that way, too–just tired, or icky, or off.  Not bad enough to skip work, but not well enough to really enjoy the day.  The difference is, kids still have someone to complain to–sometone who could possibly make it better, even if all we do is get them a couple of Tylenol.