Miserable & Puny

By now you have probably realized, if you don't know me personally, that I have 2 children: N & B. 

N is 12, plays baseball, loves history and is pretty much an old man trapped in a pre-teen body.  He's closing in on me in height and he's stronger than I am sometimes.  He knows it, too.  It has the potential to be unpleasant.  As the oldest by 3 years (and change), he grew up primarily around adults, hence his ease in conversing with them, hence his overall dislike for maturity levels in his age range.  I'm not saying he can't join friends on the immaturity bandwagon, because he's been known to on rare occasions, but he chooses not to more often than not. N rarely gets sick, doesn't suffer from any allergies (aside from seasonal crap like the rest of us), and the only time he was seriously sick/injured was a broken arm in 1st grade.

B is 8, loves to play outside and ride bikes, play board games, help in the kitchen (or anywhere really) and is the most joyful child I have ever known.  He is just gleeful about life, and his laugh?  Well, it's infectious.  His laugh can diffuse any situation known to man, and even when things are rough, he can find a reason to laugh.  He is the youngest of 4 all together and that has been kind of tough on him.  He thrives when he is the youngest in a group because most of the others typically cut him some slack and let him lead.  He thrives when he is the oldest in a group because most of the others look up to him and are willing to let him make the rules.  He has a hard time with people his own age because they're all on even ground.  B has had a rough go of life...he's been hospitalized twice (once with Rotavirus when he was 1, and once right before 1st grade in 2012 when he had to be admitted to the ICU when he accidentally got a whiff of chlorine gas), and has a horrible time with asthma, allergies and strep throat.

N has been sick enough to miss school approximately half a dozen times or so in his lifetime.  It just rarely happens...B, on the other hand, missed 2 days last week simply because his allergies were so bad he could barely open his eyes.  N's knee was swollen this morning and he felt wobbly and shaky.  I figured he slept so hard that he slept funny and he just needed to wake up a little.  We planned to go pick apples at his great-grandparents' orchard this afternoon, so we headed that way around lunchtime.  When we arrived, nobody was home and all of the apples were gone.  BUMMER!  We hung around for a little bit, then got thirsty so we headed back towards our house.  I stopped to grab him some water, and after he drank a little, he curled up on the passenger seat and passed out.

By the time we got home, he was begging to curl up on the couch and asked for a blanket. As I covered him, I felt his head and it was on fire.  102.2.  Super.  I'd given him some pain reliever for his knee (it's still pretty swollen, even now) so I had to hold off on any fever reducer until later.  His temperature evened out to 99.4, and he swore he'd be going to school tomorrow.  I told him to wait for it.

A few hours later, we were back up to 103.4, and we've been hovering around that ever since.  He's not nauseated or anything...just achy, fever/chills, and a massive headache.  He finally agreed that he should stay home tomorrow, and I informed him that we'd be headed to the doctor as soon as I could get an appointment.  The good news is B is with his stepmom this week, so if it IS the flu (my number 1 suspicion), he'll be able to avoid it.  I hope.

Because, y'all?  We had the flu in February, and it was the worst.  Ever.  In the history of ever.

Aubs