Let's Hear it for the Enterovirus!

There are certain things no one tells you when you're expecting. Like, how much teething is gonna suck. Or how you are going to become an expert at extracting mucus from screaming children at 2 a.m. Or how the human head can and will be used as a weapon by your two-year-old. Or how an over-tired child is MORE difficult to put to bed than a slightly sleepy child, common sense be damned. But, by far, the worst is how often kids are going to get sick, and how often you will find yourself Googling things like: "red sores on inside of two year-old's mouth;" "how much is too much Benadryl?" and, "how old do they have to be to go off to camp?"

Our latest visitor is the enterovirus, making itself known by the presence of some nasty looking, puss-filled sores all over Ani's hands, feet, arms, legs and, worst of all, in her mouth. She can't and won't eat unless heavily drugged (I admit that I'm using some leftover ibuprofin with codeine that was prescribed for her earlier this year, as nothing else seems to make a dent in the pain) and is requesting spoonfulls of Maalox to coat her poor inflamed little throat. The coolest part? No cure. Just wait it out. Bland foods, pain reliever, blah blah bla-bitty-blah blah blah. Seven to 10 days and it will go away on its own! Great. Except. Except it is highly, HIGHLY contagious (smart little virus) and Reni will be coming down with the tell-tale fever either today or tomorrow, by my WebMD-sourced calculations, and the sores a few days after that. The only thing worse than not being able to make your child better is not being able to explain why you can't make it better NOW, MAMA, NOW and having the patience and endurance to wait this thing out.

I realize I'm being a big baby complaining about all this -- after all, there are millions in the world who have to worry about famine or revolution or much more serious illnesses -- but somehow it feels better complaining a bit. And Armando thanks you, too, for reading this so he doesn't have to listen to me and my little violin.