This is the Cold that Never Ends....Yes it Goes On and On, my Friends...

By Amy

I was going to show you pics of two sweet dresser re-dos, but, I need to ask you experienced mommas for your input instead.  Here is my question:

ARE CHILDREN ALWAYS SICK??!

Holy Moly.  Hayden's colds seem to roll in like the tide; there's a week of blissful peace before the familiar signs start up, and BAM...he's a coughing, miserable, snotting, mess again.  I feel bad for him, poor kid!  And it's a nasty cycle, cause after the cold, comes the Aftercold effect--two weeks where he's acting in every other way healthy, but still running out the nose faster than I can wipe it.  ALL. DAY. LONG.  Haha, I look like this neglectful mother at the grocery store.  I want to holler to the passing elderly woman, "I wiped that nose like, 3.5 seconds ago, for the trillionth time today!!!  DON'T JUDGE MEEEEE! "  I stuff a wad of kleenexes in my pocket everywhere we go, and I still usually run out.  I'm just thinking, "Dang kid, where IS that all coming from!?  In the course of this day, you probably drained the equivalent of your weight in snot!"

My mom, who at one time had three little girls under the age of 4, used to safety-pin handkerchiefs to my sister's shirts when they all had colds, and just wiped their noses every time they walked past.  Ha!  Nasty but brilliant!  I want to patent a soft, thin absorbent (washable) strip of cloth with elastic loops at the end that hook around the child's ears.  They wear it across their face--under their nose and above their upper lip, to catch the flow all day.  Genius, huh?  I mean, yeah it would obstruct breathing through their nose, but they can't breathe out of them anyway when they have a cold!  It's a better idea than the old wrestling trick for stopping bloody noses--tampons up each nostril.  (I probably would have tried that with my son, but baby nostrils are TINY.)

Poor kid was sick, but still couldn't resist an empty box!

But really, what do you do when your child is always somewhere on the cold spectrum (getting a cold, has a cold, or getting over a cold)?  I mean, I'm all for limiting the passing of germs, and I TOTALLY get that other moms don't want their kids catching a cold, cause I know it sucks, but are we supposed to just stay in the house and not go anywhere?  Should I skip church, stop meeting to exercise, avoid the library, stay away from get-togethers and sit in quarantine if my child has any cold symptoms?  I would NEVER go ANYWHERE!

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not talking about a sickness like strep throat, stomach flu, chicken pox, pink eye, etc.  To those, Yes.  The answer is: Quarantine yourself.  Nobody wants that crap!  And I'm also not saying, "Woop-di-do, what's the big deal, kids?  Come take a lick from the sick kid's lollipop!"  No.  But, you can't stop living your life when your child gets cold once a month and the cycle lasts three weeks.  That only leaves one week a month!  I just read in a pamphlet from my pediatrician's office: "Young children will often have anywhere between 6 and 12 colds per year.  That is why we call them 'common'."  Oh great.  It really is once a month!

My son felt miserable (hence the rare cuddling).

Now this blows my mind...What about you moms with several kids?  Do you EVER have all members of the family healthy?  Cause they just pass it to each other, right?

Oy.

I'm a little bummed out that my son is sick, yet again, and we have a big family party this weekend.  And I don't want to pass germs to 14 nieces and nephews.  But...I REALLY want to see everyone and I'd be so sad if we missed it!  Maybe, if I'm honest with myself, it get frustrated too, because it's hard for me to miss out on fun, social functions when my son's sick.  I've always been super social--this stay-at-home-momma craves being with people!  But it's not fair to get upset--I mean, and, it's not his fault that he gets these colds!  My poor babe....He's so sad-looking with his weepy eyes and runny nose.  The only plus side: we have some sweet cuddle times when when he's sick!  Usually, he's running 95 mph at all times, but when he feels crappy, he doesn't have the energy to squirm and run off when I hold him! :)

Does it get better, mommas?  Is there an age when they stop catching every cold wafting by?  And, do you stay home every time your child has any cold symptoms?  Any tricks you have for helping your kiddios stay healthier?  (Besides the obvious of not leaving your house.)  I'd love to hear!

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