Achoo!

I need to ask a favor. I really need to change one thing. I just want the power to change one little thing. It's small. I promise. But so many people will benefit.

We started school a week ago Tuesday. By Saturday, Mister Man was snuffling and sneezing regularly. I attributed it to allergies, as I'd also been sneezing periodically.

No, it wasn't allergies.

Yesterday on the car ride to a playdate, Mister Man told me his ear was hurting? You mean the one where I told you that if you didn't quit snuffling you'd get an ear infection? Yeah... that one.

And last night, Little Miss was up at 1:43am crying for someone to wipe her nose. This the girl who sleeps through the night and wakes up in the morning to play silently until I'm ready to get her out of bed. Yep, this morning she was sniffling, too.

Oh yeah. This morning, I woke up with that tickle in my throat. You know, the one that tells you that you're starting to get a cold and it's time to load up on the orange juice and chicken noodle soup? Yeah, that one.

So four days into the school year, and the bugs have already had time to percolate and germinate and turn into illnesses.

Granted, we have no green excretions yet, so no one needs to stay home from school, but I'd really, really like to make it harder to transmit bugs from one person to another. I totally get how it's important to have the bugs and to ensure that you have a strong immune system and test it so that you stay strong and healthy long term. But really, we're four days in, and this isn't boding well for the rest of the year.

Can I please just have the power to make that one teensy change? I'm fine with getting sick once in awhile, but can we wait until the middle of winter when it's horrible out and yucky and you actually want to make chicken noodle soup? And really, we don't need to be sick nonstop from September to May, do we? Can't I just schedule one or two weeks in the middle of winter?

I promise, none of this is coming from intense jealousy that my husband, who's been a teacher for fifteen years, doesn't get sick anymore and only the three weak members of the family have this issue. I swear. It's all about trying to make life easier for the wee ones and for all their little friends.

I swear. Pretty please?