It’s nearly the holiday break, so that means it’s time for everyone to get sick in our house.

I happen to sniffle almost all winter.  It has little enough to do with whether or not I’m sick, but I do seem to go through tissues like no one’s business.  (I’m just used to it at this point.)

R, on the other hand, has had the Niagara Falls of Snot (albeit like Bridal Veil Falls, not American or Horseshoe) running down his face for a few days now.  And over the weekend, it became abundantly clear that the wife too is clearly coming down with something, though she’s fighting it off valiantly with all sorts of over-the-counter medications.  As I’ve mentioned before, it’s hard enough to tell if the Monster is getting sick – he doesn’t tell us if he’s not feeling ‘right’, and unless he’s coughing/sneezing/raspy/throwing-up, there’s usually not an outward sign that he’s unwell.  Though at least for the moment, the Monster seems perfectly healthy, and we’re working to keep it that way as long as our luck will hold out on that regard.  Of course, he’s in the public schools, that famous incubator of all known diseases, so it’s probably just a matter of time.

We do still have to get the kids and the wife inoculated against the flu.  I had my flu shot at the office, but they were only providing for employees.  I’ll also, though, admit that I’m far more concerned about colds than the flu at the moment, since it’s been a while since we’ve seen a serious case of the latter in our area.  We’re taking care to keep the house comfortable and clean, and ensuring that the kids are getting checked on a regular basis so we can be proactive about health steps…

My real concern, perhaps, is more that the Monster’s reluctant to take anything that would make him feel better when he’s unwell.  We can get R to take children’s Tylenol or the like fairly easily – he’s always been amenable to eating just about anything, and while he’s not quite as thrilled about cough syrup mixed into his juice, he’ll drink it down eventually.  The Monster, though, has his very picky dietary habits, and that doesn’t include medication.  Hell, it’s hit-or-miss as to whether he’ll eat his multivitamin on a given day, so you can imagine what happens trying to convince him to take medication that isn’t easily hidden within his juice…

With any luck, we’ll make it through the winter with a few coughs and sniffles from him, but nothing too serious.  I’m keeping my fingers crossed.