in years past

when a ship flew a yellow flag it was to signal quarantine. Maybe I should invest in a plain yellow flag for our home.

It starts with one. I naively think that maybe it is a fluke- maybe only one will be sick- wishful thinking. Stinky made a pretty rapid recovery though; he was not himself for the rest of the day but- what can you expect? So far the other kids were holding up well.

My mother arrived early the next morning- and we had to decide what to do. Stinky was still out of sorts- he did not want to do anything. Which could be him being three and a half or it could have been remnants from his virus. Sledding won out- despite his protests after he went down the hill a few times with me he seemed fine.

At lunch I noticed that the kids really did not eat which was strange- normally they devour anything put in front of them. Once home they played with Grammy- the whining was a foreshadowing of the illness to come and it did come.

Dinner no one ate and the kids were starting to drop quite literally like flies. They were dozing on the floor being 'blah'.

A bit after bedtime Princess woke crying. She does not usually wake crying. Once on the stairs on the way to her room it was obvious what she was upset about- the smell- good heavens. If you have ever been around kids with the stomach flu- you know the smell. It gets in your nose and clings there- it clings to your hair, your clothes and it makes you want join the kids in the bathroom. Unfortunately- Princess did not make it to the bathroom a sheet change and shower later- she was back to bed with a puke bowl.

Next Peas woke whining. You cannot explain to a 2 year old to aim in the toilet or grab the bowl. She just was sick. A lot. Another sheet change, pj, change, and bath later- I pretty much gave up on sleep for the night on top of that my stomach was not feeling so calm.

Thank Heavens my mother was there. Thank heavens I was not alone. I needed all of the extra hands I could get.

Peas came into bed with me again- and again puked. Another sheet change, another bath, more new jammies. Back to bed. I prayed for no more issues- I was nearly out of sheets- silly me thought I was getting a leg up on the mountain of laundry.

In the morning Princess had recovered substantially and Peas was acting pretty good. She ate some. Bad idea. The blankets on the couch needed to get washed too then. Since then everyone has been recovering- slowly testing their stomachs. With moderate success. I should know better that it is just one- it is rarely just one. Kids may not share toys but germs are much easier to be generous with.

So where do they sell these flags??