We had the sick Christmas this year. It seems to go every other year – one year healthy and fun fun fun, the next year, sick and pitiful. Every sick and pitiful year I swear I will get everyone flu shots next fall, and then I never do it. Serves me right, says the universe!
This year everything seemed like it was going to be fine on Christmas Eve, and then the Little Miss woke up with a terrible fever and serious ennui on Christmas morning. Meanwhile, both of the older two developed totally awesome chesty coughs. We foolishly decided to go ahead with our plan to head down to Southern Ontario to visit the fams on Boxing Day, only to turn tail and run back home on the 28th when it became clear that all of us were going to go down with the flu one at a time like dominoes.
It sure was a fun car ride home!
Since we made it here we’ve had one day of lie around on the couch groaning and watching movies; today we have graduated to reading and playing card games. Later I might attempt a little cereal and some Wii. It’s life in the fast lane around here, let me tell you.
It hasn’t exactly been a big party around here, but we’re together, it’s quiet, and no one has killed anyone yet, although we really should try to get out of the house sooner rather than later. I had to put the garbage out this morning and discovered the driveway is knee deep with snow and it’s actually winter out there. Who knew?
You know, now that I think about it, if I had to plan out a perfect Christmas it might be just like this – quiet time hanging out at home, no cooking required, no cleaning expected. Just chill time as a family. Now that most of our fevers are coming down, I think I’ll take the time to appreciate this quiet little Christmas for what it is. A gift.
TurtleHead 
You don’t get flu shots? Good lord, what could possibly be preventing you?
Maybe it’s convenience? Down here our HMO sets up clinics to get the shots, and if you’re careful about picking the right time, you walk in and get the shots and are on your way within minutes. And it costs nothing. We all get them, and while it’s only anecdotal evidence, we’ve never had flu epidemics like the ones you’re describing.
Funny story: our older son is terrified of getting his flu shot. When we got them this year he went last, and I swear when I got mine right before him I literally felt nothing. (I mean “literally” quite literally – I didn’t feel a thing). He did finally take the shot and while he did feel it, we could tell from his reaction that it hardly hurt at all.
On the way home I figured we should make the experience memorable somehow so he’d remember how easy it was. I finally suggested we make turns filling in the blank in “it hurt so much that __________”. We played this for a while, and every once in a while one of the responses would make them burst out in laughter, while many others fell flat. I finally figured out (should have seen it right away, but whatever) that in order to elicit laughter, the response had to have at least two “toilet” words (words that in our family are forbidden in certain contexts, like at the dinner table). So, for example, “it hurt so much that my hair caught on fire” was a dud, while “it hurt so much that my butt caught on fire and I fell down the toilet” was hilarious. Great fun.
Even *I* laughed at the thought of you falling down the toilet. HILARIOUS.
I guess I don’t get them because the thought of waiting in a line with three children to get shots seems like the worst kind of torture. There are usually only two or three clinics each fall in our end of town, so I have to go on one of those two days or I will miss out, and each time it seems like we have a lot going on or someone is sick or I just don’t have the energy to drag them there. Plus, I’ve heard you get draggy and feel ill for three or four days afterwards, and I have some sort of complex where I think the world as we know it will end if I have to take a few days of rest instead of full-on mom-work.
Gah. Next year, I swear!
Agreed, waiting in line is a problem; we have one less child, and SmokingToaster comes, and we usually manage to find a time that works for us when the lines are not long anyway. So there are some logistical issues that might or might not be possible to work around.
But as far as the feeling draggy and ill for three or four days? For us, life went on as usual with no discernible side effects apart from a bit of dull pain around the injection site for a few hours afterwards.
IMO this is well worth the effort to figure out a way to make it happen. It’s not even just a convenience; as I understand it, the shots are strongly recommended for children (and for adults who spend a lot of time around children); real flu (not the “24-hour flu” you more commonly get which is usually just a gastro-intestinal virus) can be very serious and I would guess it can be fatal in some cases.
Glad you’re all on the mend. Luckily only I got sick over Christmas. Well it wasn’t lucky for me, but I’m probably the least fussy sick person in the house. Today we shall venture out for groceries, but our holiday has been spent pretty much the same. It may have been our nicest Christmas yet.
Glad you recognize the awesomeness of the quiet, even though you were (and are) stuck with the suckiness of the sick.
Every year, there’s a huge Christmas Eve party with my wife’s large family. Then there’s Christmas with our two families (everyone’s in town, which is great… but you HAVE to do the visits) which means opening gifts for far too long (sounds ungrateful, but I don’t get anything out of mountains of gifts… a few small and useful/thoughtful gifts is plenty). Then Boxing Day the same huge extended family gets together for a skating party. Then if you’re lucky there’s a day or two “off” (I went into work for an afternoon, which was a relaxing break). Then we have my birthday celebration (again with family; I really shouldn’t complain, we’re so lucky to have all our family close by and healthy) and in a day there will be New Year’s Eve…
I can’t handle it all. I’m an “extrovert” in most people’s eyes, but I read recently that you may actually be an “introvert” if you don’t feel recharged and energized by being around people. I fit that category I think. But enough of that…. suffice it to say…
What I really want for my Birthday next year (since Christmas isn’t optional) is a quiet day at home with my family and a quiet night maybe at the movies with just my wife.
Too. Much. Chaos. Quiet celebrations for the win!
The grass is definitely greener; we live far from both of our families and I definitely miss those noisy, big celebrations. And I am definitely an introvert as you describe it (not recharged by being around people). But yeah, I wouldn’t want that to be endless; one day of that, and I need some quiet time too.
We’ve been sick too, and it has actually been nice. Perhaps this is because no one is really seriously sick and no one is barfing. In related news: I haven’t worn real pants since Tuesday.
Oh Lynn, we had a similar holiday. Sorta. D2 had a short lived fever on his birthday then a rash on Christmas (We think it was roseola). Wednesday I started a head cold that I am still fighting and I was home with the 3 boys without DH (boo hoo for me – I was feeling sorry for myself). And now my other two kids are starting the head cold. Booo. Looks like a quiet new years eve for us. Holiday sick sucks.
Sorry you guys are sick, and, congratulations on the down time? Does that about cover it? I’m just not even going to talk about sickness, but my sister and her family were here for the holidays and Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were lovely, still pretty low key even with four kids and six adults, and then they left on Boxing day and even though I thought we’d have a bunch of people over we’ve all been reading/video gaming/watching loud war movies in our jammies and it’s been BLISSFUL. Maybe this was nature’s way of making you slow down for a bit. Still, sorry you were sick for Christmas. I”m the same on flu shots – I always want to get them and life keeps getting in the way. I did get mine when I was at the doctor for another reason, and I had zero side effects – never have had any, FWIW, and the kids haven’t either, when we manage to get them the shots.