Naturally, if you post something suggesting you are invincible to illness because of your flu shots, you are bound to get sick.

Last week, it began with my son, who came down with a strange combination of mild fever (about 100 degrees), congestion, a junky cough and occasional vomiting that lasted about 3 days until tapering off to “just” a bad cold.

With the flu widespread at the time, the tendency to blame some sort of breakthrough flu virus was tempting.  However, because he had the flu shot and he is also at the right age, it could also be teething combined with a cold.

Over the Martin Luther King holiday, my son started to recover but the rest of us worsened, with the cold virus spreading to me and all the children.  It has been a rough couple of nights trying to help everyone recover from their symptoms.  Caring for sick children while ill is one of the most exhausting jobs there is.  I am holding up well considering but fatigue catches up with us all.  As I was piling everyone into the car for preschool this week, I managed to knock myself in the head with the car door and now have a small goose egg on my forehead.

Our noses are raw and we are going through tissues at a rapid pace.  I am not yet up for tasks like grocery shopping so we are making do with what is in the house.  By scrounging in the fridge, I discovered that V8 juice has just as much vitamin C as orange juice.  Letting everyone soak in a warm bath has also worked wonders.

We’re definitely on the mend but it may take a few days to work back into our regular and New Year’s routines.

Hope you are well and staying warm!