The Common Cold in the Family Dynamic

Almost everyone will experience the common cold at least once this year, or for those that have school age children, you might experience it more than once this year. School age children bring home more viruses than homework.

I myself have two children in school, and this week the whole house has the common cold. last week it was the flu. Next week it will be strept throat.

My household consists of five people: two school aged children, myself, my husband, and his mother.

My mother-in-law has claimed a headache all week, locked herself in her room, and has anounced to all who will listen that it has entered her chest, and has surely set into an inflamation. We sugested she take her medication and drink hot tea, her response was that hot tea makes her ill, and has ignored the medication completely. She is a hypocondriac with a bi-polar condition.

My husband has complained of chest pain, back pain, runny nose, fever, ect.... Could I get him some water? Could I get him some tea? Could I make him some soup? Could I reach over his prone body two inches to the other side and get him the cold medicine? Ect..... I thought I only had two kids, aperently I was wrong, I have three, and the third still needs diapers, a passy and a baba! (wonder if underoos come in his size?)

My kids have a runny nose and fever. They want to stay home everyday this month, but when they stay home, two hours later their hoping around the house like they ate straight sugar and are happy as larks. You'd swear they are sick as can be and need the hospital when they first wake up, but after the bus has been through they behave as if it were summer and they are healthy as can be. They want to go outside and play, tell you every detail of what they are watching even though you are right there in the same room as the television, and if you really care you would watch it too. You end up with peanut butter in locations around the house that it chould not be (I mean how did he get peanut butter on the shower ceiling anyway?).

Me I feel as lousy as everyone else, but if I lay down for a minute, all hell breaks loose. The house looks like a bomb has hit. It's as if no one knows how to do dishes without me, or luandry, or cook, or change the channel. I swear if another person asks me if I have seen the remote I'm going to stick the missing device up their #$$. What I really would like is someone to bring me hot tea for a change, and then everyone to leave me alone until I feel better withought setting of atomic bombs around my house.