A Day With the Kids

So I'm home from work today. The kids have chicken pox. Both of them. At 5 and 3. Oh, the joy is never ending. And yeah, that's sarcasm.

My wife escaped to her job. I have more sick time piled up, so I'm with the kids. I took them to the doctor, who confirmed that, yes, they do have chicken pox, and no, there's nothing much I can do about it, and then I brought them back home. We stopped for calamine lotion on the way, and now they're covered with little pink dots. They each have some footed pyjamas, which is good, because those'll help stop them from scratching everything, and spreading it more. In the meantime, they itch. And scratch.

And ask questions. Like this one: "Daddy, what is a chicken pox?"

That was fun to explain. "Well, it's a disease..."

"NO!"

"...that lots of children get when they're little. Even your Mommy and Daddy had it."

"What does it do?"

"You know the little red bumps on your body? And your sore throat?"

"Yes."

"That's what chicken pox does. And once one kid in a school gets it, they all get it."

"You mean the one kid shares?"

Sometimes, it's really hard not to laugh. But I managed to keep a straight face, this time, and told her that this isn't really like sharing, even if she did give it to her sister. Ah, well, she'll learn. I'm gonna go set up the oatmeal bath.