Sick week soliloquy

The value of enforced family time

Influenza A finally got us after a few years of counting ourselves lucky. One by one we fell, waiting in dread for the next to go down. I am still flinching every time my 2 year old sneezes, as the last one standing, I’m not quite sure when I can confidently say that this too has passed.

We’ve done very little over the last week. In the mornings, I ran my flu and asthma ward round, reviewing cough, fixing hydralyte, checking temperatures, administering puffers, steroids, antivirals, and antipyretics as required. Evening routines were similar, followed by two parents feeling very grateful for bedtime. Daytime, we lay, we snacked, read books, played board games, and with increasing rigour left the house for stretches to walk the dog.

As parents to 3 young boys, weekends typically feel far from restful; social commitments and errands predominate. I noticed this week that it took influenza to stop this frenetic movement. With the kids home sick and subsequently recovering, I’ve seen more of them than I usually do. And while I am very ready for a change in role by the 5pm point, it’s been surprisingly…nice?

I’ve had a sense that we’ve cocooned to regenerate. I slowed down, at first unwillingly, and then felt myself sinking into the new routine with some sort of relief. I called my usually energetic, explorative boys back home to me, and tended to them. There was beauty in the insular, before I let them go again. Go forth my babies, and please stay well.