That Makes Me Sick

My seven year old is sporting a pair of pajamas, socks, and fever. His eyes droop until the Motrin kicks in and he is requesting bowls of spaghetti and vanilla ice cream topped with sprinkles.

Today he laid on our ottoman with his pillow, watching DVD's while my 12 year old joined him snuggling and feeling his heated skin temperature. At one point I walked into the living room to deliver some ice water and caught my fevered child breathing his hot, virus infested breath into the face of y 12 year old.

"What are you doing?" I questioned and the biggest boy replied, "I want him to breath on me so I can get sick too,"

"Your nuts!" I exclaimed and exited the living room. Evidently the thought of returning to school after the weekend was just too much to bear. A swift inhale of sick boy's breath was the perfect way to turn the traditional two-day weekend into a three-day weekend in one short minute.

His attempts failed. Poor 12 year old boy must go to school as planned.

When I was 12 I distinctly remember doing the same thing. I attempted to make myself sick so that I wouldn't have to go to school. I dipped cold dill pickles into Hershey's syrup assuming that the atrocious concoction would make me ill.

I also tried standing in the shower and turning the water from warm to cold, and cold to warm again, several times, in hopes of throwing my body temperature off kilter enough to make me sick.

My attempts also failed. I now know that one cannot become ill from being cold after being warm, or from partaking in odd food combinations. Virus must be caught. I would have been better off licking the handle of a shopping cart. Now I know.

I won't be telling my oldest son the shopping cart trick, he just might attempt it, depending on how many tests he has in the morning.

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