Strep Tease

We are not superheroes. No one's biology is perfect. I have noticed, being the mother of four, that some children, some families seem to have tendencies toward contracting certain types of illnesses and infections. We've only ever had one ear infection in Krinkeland. We know Elisabeth is susceptible to urinary tract infections. No one has ever had influenza (I suspect because I opt for flu shots for everyone.) It seems we get a barfy bug approximately once a year after school starts in the fall. No one in our family has ever been diagnosed with strep throat.

Until today.

Elisabeth started complaining her throat hurt at the beginning of the week. But, she's been singing and yelling a lot at play rehearsal. Plus, I imagine they're all generally run down due to the hectic nature of our family life right now. She didn't run a fever, she didn't complain of any other symptoms, she was willing to go to school. But this morning, things escalated. Libby had a major meltdown about playing basketball this morning. And Amanda returned from a sleepover saying her throat really hurt.

I felt compelled to first address the issue of the refusal to play basketball, along with apologizing for all the screaming I've been doing due to the stress of this theater program. So, I called a family meeting. As I herded Daddy and the kids into the living room, Amanda asked, "Are you going to tell us you're pregnant again? Because that's what happened the last time we had a family meeting." I guess we need to have more family meetings.

Todd and I talked about how busy we've been, and we apologized to the children if they've taken the brunt of our stress. We reminded them that family is the most important priority (after God) but we also said it's important to follow through on your commitments, so we were going to keep working on this production, just as Libby was going to keep playing basketball. When all was said and done, after the group hug, Todd and Benjamin started assembling the new popcorn popper and I took Amanda and Elisabeth to urgent care for strep tests.

Libby was riding the doctor's wheeled stool, ricocheting off the exam room walls. Amanda was riveted to "Angry Birds" on her iPod. The doctor said, "Gee, they don't really seem sick, do they?" I agreed, and started kicking myself for wasting two copays. At that point, the nurse poked her head back through the doorway and said, "Oh, yeah. They're both positive." My jaw dropped as I gasped, "Nooo." You'd think she'd just told me the kids had smallpox.

I regained my composure and asked about treatment. As has been previously addressed on this blog, my brilliant but stubborn children are about as good at swallowing medications as I was as a child. I said there was no way I was going to administer liquid antibiotics over the toilet twice a day for the next ten days. She told me the world was different now-- she could write a prescription for pills or chewable pills. "How about a shot?" I asked.

She agreed. One syringe full of antibiotics, 24 hours to let the shot work, and they would be free and clear. They were huge needles, administered in the butt cheeks (my children have no padding) and it took two adults each to hold them down. The girls are really mad at me. I'm really mad at strep.