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A nasty cold virus has knocked my whole family flat. My husbnad is the sickest I have ever seen him. My 17-month-old boy and I are on the mend. But my older boy's cough has been so barkingly, uncontrollably bad that I took him to the doctor. My neighbor said it could be the croup (to which I say, isn't that something from the 1800s? Anne of Green Gables anyone?). But the doctor said it's just a bad bad bug. Plus she says he has a double ear infection now. The poor poor boy is so miserable. As I was wheeling him into the store after our doctor visit to get yet more medicine and a humidifier, he started coughing again. Someone near us sniggered, "It's the swine flu." I wanted to turn around and yell, "Listen lady, I work for the news. Don't tell ME about swine flu! The doctor says it's a cold, and as you can tell he's covering his cough with tissues, and I have hand sanitizer coming out my ears here as I push this cart. When did YOU last wash your hands?" But I didn't say it. That's rude. The humidifier didn't seem to help his cough overnight, unless the coughing could have been worse. And does anyone know how to make a stubborn almost-four-year-old take their medicine? I can understand not wanting to take Children's Tylenol or Benadryl, maybe he thinks they taste bad. But he needs to take the antibiotics for his ears, and he throws a fit. I'm starting to sneak it into his milk.
