Here we are with strep in the house again. For the fifth time this year for our 3 year old who got it from our 1 year old who has had it close to the same amount of times. I don't know why my kids get it so frequently--but I promise every time they do, I hear a new theory from someone. Maybe it's just a season; maybe their schools are dirty; maybe they don't wash their hands enough; maybe they need to eat x, y and z; or to not eat x, y and z; maybe I don't sanitize right...and you know what, maybe one of these things is true. But from a mama in the thick of it, we--moms whose kids get sick a lot--don't need more theories, well-meaning as they may be. At least I don't. I don't need fuel added to my overdriven mind because I promise you that no one wants to see my children sick less than I do. When my son gets strep, he's a whole new kid, and not in a good way. He's miserable, which makes him grumpy. He's an even pickier eater than normal, which is frankly pretty damn impressive. He's got to be potty trained all over again. He wakes up screaming in the night because his head and joints ache. It's utterly heartbreaking. There's no one who has obsessed harder over if I've crammed enough greens and protein into smoothies and muffins (the places I hide his least favorite essential food groups). There's no one who overthinks vitamins and hand-washing more than me. There's no one who wants less than to stay up all night with a kid in pain. And I promise there is no one who wants less than to clean every. one. of. these. toys. for probably the upteenth time this year. You know the two of them don't catch everything at the same time. There may really be something out there we haven't tried, but if that's true, I promise I'll find the solution. Because no one--no one--wants this to happen less than I do. (A brief glimpse at my Internet search history will drive that home). I know this must be true for all moms with kids that seem to catch everything. So to you fellow you toy-scrubbing, tooth-brush boiling mamas out there--lets agree at the same time: it's not our fault. That while we won't ever stop trying to keep our babies healthy, we know we can't keep them in a bubble. That no matter how much we try, we can't keep them from chewing on everything under the sun. No one cares more and tries harder to keep our family healthy than we do. No one. Let's face it, kids are kind of gross and there's not much we can do about it. So here's some virtual chocolate and a big ole hug (and some Lysol and essential oils because you might as well try them both).
