The Wrath of the Coxsackie Virus

I don't know what's more gross. The fact that I haven't taken a shower in three days or that I just wiped my daughter's boogers with my t-shirt before I put her to bed. I think both, especially since I just realized my t-shirt is on backwards. I put it on in the dark after getting slimed on at 12 am last night so I think I can justifiably get by with a warning from the fashion police. I am looking and feeling so grubby it's unbelievable. The kids have had a cold for literally one month now, just when they seem to be getting better, they catch a fresh new cold and the whole snotty process starts again. I took them to the pediatrician Monday and he said they currently have the coxsackie virus, which produces cold and flu symptoms in addition to possible blisters on the hands, feet and inside the mouth on the tongue. It only affects children, but there are the rare exception adults (like my 25 year old sister) who contract it after touching children who have the disease. Coxsackie virus is also known in lay terms as Hand Foot and Mouth Disease, but trust me the disease sounds worse than the actual condition. I think both names for the disease are pretty creepy sounding actually, I wonder what wizards in the medical community came up with these beauties. They should rename it to "It's no Picnic in the Park" , "I can't believe it's not the flu" or "Kiss your sleep goodbye Mom" disease. Actually, the blisters on the hand and feet don't hurt the child, it's the blisters on the tongue that are extremely painful. My son only wants to drink cold water and cold yogurt until he feels better. Motrin every six hours helps ease the pain as well.


I can't believe only a little over three years ago, I was sitting at my job as an auditor thinking, "Damn, this job sucks, I can't wait to give birth and be a stay at home mom. I'm going to have so much fun holding the baby and playing peek-a-boo. Dinner will just magically appear and the house will clean itself. All I have to do is take care off that cute little baby and dress him up in cute clothes...etc...etc...dream dream.....it will be so much fun and so much less stressful than this stupid job!" Who was that person? Was that me??? Three years later, I'm 25 pounds overweight, over-stressed, and sleep deprived. The moments when my life looks like a Fisher Price commercial with the happy mom and playful kids are rare and fleeting, most of the time I'm cleaning up messes around the house, changing diapers, or cooking food my kids are not going to even eat. Hopefully, raising kids will become fun soon, but until then it's grueling work, especially when you are suffering from the wrath of the coxsackie virus.