Apparently, Cold Season is Here

Poor, sad. little Mendel

You know it when the first brilliantly red (danger, danger!) note arrives from school, informing you that some school-age victims fell by the wayside. Strep throat, flue, swine-thingy; when a child gets sick, it is An Issue. Gone are the days when we just took getting sick during cold season for granted. Nowadays, we have to be warned about contagious situations, as if it’s any surprise that when you put sixty four-year olds in the same building, they’re going to infect each other with al kinds of things.
Having said all that, Mendel is home from school today. I don’t plan to make a habit out of it, but here’s the issue: every October, he gets a cold. You can set your watch by it, or your calendar, or whatever. The cold mixes with his seasonal allergies; toss in the fact that he absolutely refuses to blow his nose, and you end up with a child that lies awake half the night, hacking like an old man. It’s great fun, and we’re all enjoying ourselves immensely. Yes, I’m a bit tired myself; thanks for asking.

Mendel isn’t really sick, he’s fine: a little sleep deprived, but otherwise okay. He doesn’t have a temperature, he’s not throwing up; he just sounds like Doc Holliday, and that puts us in an awkward position. Try to take him out in public, and watch the people around you take a step back as soon as that hacking cough makes an appearance; you’d think the kid had the plague. And so, I keep him home, until we find a solution.

Mendel is having the time of his life; he gets to sleep in, hang round the house, playing all day; what’s not to like? He doesn’t really like school anyway, and if it was up to him, he’d spend the months from October through April safely at home, cocooning his way to spring. He would hibernate, if he could. As much as I am in favor of hibernation (why did this never catch on?) it’s not an option: he has to go to school and learn things.

So, tomorrow, we will go back to the doctor, and get a note, which I can shove in people’s faces when they ask about his cough. I plan to ask about homeopathic medicine. Something I can give my child every day, without turning him into a junkie. Something with herbs and honey, that will put an end to this all-night hacking fest once and for all. Hopefully we’ll find a cure that works, so he can get out of the house, and go back to school.
He’ll be so disappointed.

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