Are you sick? Take this number one test.

A sister in law arrived from Arizona on the 19th with a beloved cousin for my son to play with and the flu. She'd already been sick for a couple of days, so she only was feverish the first day that she was here.

Aidan spiked a fever on Sunday night, after a series of very irritating meltdowns. My brother in law was supposed to take a family picture of us when one of them happened, and he confided later that it made him angry, which then made him feel awful because Aidan is four. He doesn't have kids, and it was funny to hear him describe something that a parent experiences too constantly to even analyze like that. I told him that usually (though not always) the kid is hungry or tired, and I didn't even realize as I was explaining this how sick he was getting.

He ended up with a fever for six days - sometimes very high for long stretches, though I don't know exactly how high since he wouldn't let me take his temperature.

My mother in law got it too and we were worried about her because she runs herself ragged during the holidays even when she's not sick.

In the middle of this I had my second pre-natal appointment at the Medicaid clinic (there'll be a whole post about the Medicaid clinic soon). I was seen by a physician's assistant, and I mentioned to her that the flu was going around my household. I wanted to know what I should do if I get it, like how high a fever should worry me, etc. She told me to get out of my house. I told her that if I could get out of my house I would have done it a long time ago. Then she told me to get a surgical mask to wear in the house. She didn't seem capable of giving me any information about how to take care of myself if I got sick.

Fortunately, I haven't. But at least half of the family around me has, and it's mostly flu. The day after Christmas it was two brother in laws and a nephew. Today, it was a brother in law's girlfriend who came to see Lord of the Rings with us. She kept insisting that she didn't have the flu, all the while shivering with her mittens and coat on in the theater. They couldn't seem to understand why we didn't want to get a bite to eat with them afterward.

I finally took Aidan to the doctor on Friday evening. He had slept all day. He's always been a shockingly healthy kid and hadn't ever been to the doctor since he was an infant, so going to the doctor is an event for us. The doctor thought he was fine, said the flu he's been seeing has had kids feverish for 5-7 days, administered a negative strept test and gave a big discount to the family without health insurance.

That night, his fever went away, and he's back to the irritating meltdowns, but at least they aren't inexplicable.

I feel very protected through all of this, having not gotten sick. I'm taking vitamin C and I have doses of homeopathic flu medicine stockpiled just in case. We have a closing date for the house: Tuesday the 30th. I'm not really afraid of getting sick, I'm afraid of getting sick on that day.