Germ-boree

Boo! Katie picked up a virus at Gymboree. She is snotty, feverish, and generally miserable. Actually, that's not so - she just isn't quite her usual exuberant self. She's still running all over the place, but a tad more slowly and quietly, and she seems more likely to cry and want Mommy. We've even had a visit from the throw-up monster, and this time it was due to illness rather than anger. Pobrecita! Plus, now I have a scratchy throat and runny nose. If there's a silver lining, though, it's that I've gotten several unsolicited "run-to-Mommy-for-a-big-hug" moments. There is nothing like those in the whole world.

This may be an overreaction, but I'm having second thoughts about Gymboree. I don't intend to keep Katie in a plastic bubble or anything, but I get really annoyed when parents bring their sick kids to the park or play group. So far we've been really lucky - we've been going to Gymboree for about three months, and I haven't seen any sniffly kids. But we must have hit the germ jackpot on Friday. Grr.

Katie has only been sick 4 times in the 20 months since she was born, and that's great. The weird thing is, for the first 14 months she wasn't sick at all. So that means she's been sick 4 times in the past 6 months, which is almost keeping pace with the kids in daycare with their average of 10 colds a year. That really makes me mad! Here I am, giving her all this great germ-free care, only to be sabotaged by an hour of open gym. Dang it!

At least Katie is willing to let me wipe her nose this time around. She still doesn't quite understand blowing, but last time she was sick, she would scream if I even came near her nose with a tissue. So that's a bit of an improvement. I'll take anything I can get! However, what really worries me is fever. Not just because fever is scary, but because I have zero chance of getting Katie to take Tylenol. More importantly, she won't even let me take her temperature! Last time I tried the ear thermometer, she went berserk. So I have no way of knowing if her fever is high enough to need Tylenol, and I have no way of giving her Tylenol even if it is. Sigh. Luckily the interwebs informed me that fevers don't cause brain damage unless they're insanely high, like 107. I think if her fever were that high, she'd not only be burning a hole through her onesie, she'd probably be screaming and inconsolable as well. She seems fine, just a little less boisterous than usual.

Let's hope we both get rid of this thing soon!