Someone sick? Send 'em on over. They'll fit right in.

The sickness is back in our house.

Between me, my children, and the kids I babysit, we have not had a sick-free week in a long time. That's not an exaggeration either. Not one sick-free week. Do you know the kind of toll that takes on a woman? Let's just say it's rough.

This time it's my daughter who is sick. She woke up from a nap yesterday and said she had a headache. Then by the time she got out of the bathtub last night, she was shivering with a fever. And this morning the fever is still there - 101.8 - but I think after some Tylenol, it's on it's way down. She's also started to play a little bit now. Before, she was huddled under the blankets on the couch looking downright pitiful. It's good to see her back to her usual bossy, loud self, even if it is toned down a little (which is actually much nicer - but keeping a child sick so she's subdued is frowned upon, and impossible, I think.)

Now, what I'm really worried about is that she's had a bunch of mousquito bites lately. Or something that causes red, swollen, itchy bumps on her. And I mean several. I thought that maybe she had something in her bed, and washed all her sheets, covers, etc. But I didn't see anything on her bed. And I've checked the house obsessivly, but no one else has that many bites/bumps. (I did have a musquito bite on my a**, but that's more than you needed to know, huh.) So I'm thinking, oh my god, it's West Nile. Or some rare rash and sickness that's going to land her in the hospital. I'm checking WebMD every few hours or so whenever I get another idea of what it might be. And I've even checked the CDC website for instances of West Nile. I think - just think, mind you - that I'm going a little overboard. It's probably just a little regular virus, or maybe a small reaction to having bug bites (she swells a lot whenever something bites her) and her body is just having a mild reaction. Is that possible?? Or - here's a novel idea - it may have nothing to do with the bug bites at all. But I'm keeping a close eye on it, and if that fever gets any worse, her butt is going to the doctor ASAP.

You know, maybe I should just open up a sick daycare - take care of all the kids who are too sick to go to regular daycare. It seems like that's what I'm doing anyway, and maybe I can charge more. A heck of a lot more.