That's just sick.

I thought we'd dodged the winter germs that had been going around. Until Madeline started coughing and wheezing and generally ratcheting up the cranky right after her birthday. And Kimberly started a runny nose. And then I realized I was dying. So it's been a fun week, and really my first experience trying to manage a sick household with two kiddos. Fun times all around. And here are the awesome things I learned:

-Even being sick doesn't make Kimberly excessively cranky. As long as she gets naps when she wants them, she will still be giggly and smiley and good-natured. Oddly enough, constipation on top of sickness doesn't turn her into a bawling mess either. We're going to try grounding her or taking away her driving privileges next, but I'm pretty sure she'll just roll right through those too. I don't know whose child she is, but I'm liking it.

-Madeline CAN be more dramatic. I really thought we had reached the upper limits. Also, if she's sick enough, she will even lay still for up to an hour a time. I thought sickness making children more mellow was a myth perpetuated by mothers of sick children who lie to others in a self-deluded attempt to handle things themselves. I was always convinced sickness was only manifested by kids getting crankier and rowdier. Good to know this is not always the case.

-You can lay on the couch for hours at a time, doing nothing but making sandwiches and changing diapers, and your kids will probably survive. Also your house may even be standing afterwards with only minor cosmetic damages. When Madeline was a baby I was convinced I would never be able to sleep while I knew any of my children were awake, for fear they would die or write a rap song whilst I was off duty. Now I know this is false. Because Madeline only writes songs about shopping, and rarely if ever actually dies, no matter how many times she may threaten to do so.

-Jessie will do the dishes and make dinner, and entertain bored children if these things are not done when he gets home. Without being begged or paid. And he won't even give you a guilt trip or try to cash in on it later. Basically, what I'm saying is that I might have several bouts of "sickness" over the next few months or years. Maybe a chronic, fleeting illness. That is totally real and definitely out of my control. And appears at about 5:00 every day. There's an illness like that, isn't there? If you know what it's called, definitely let me know. So I can tell Jessie.

Fortunately, it looks like we're all feeling better today, with only a few remnants of cracked voices, raw nostrils, and lingering coughs. So we'll probably live. All except Jessie. Who was the only one who didn't get appreciably sick. So I'm expecting him to break down and die any hour now. Probably just in time for his birthday. We always like to get him big, dramatic presents like that.