I. Am. That Mother.

Everybody is sick. We’ve been to so many people’s houses in the past two weeks only to get texts or emails a few days later informing us that their child had come down with some kind of bug, and were we all OK? The ickiest part is that everybody seems to be getting some variation of hand, foot, and mouth disease, which manifests itself as a stubborn fever for a few days before breaking into a beautiful rash of blisters around the hands, feet, and mouth. Definitely NOT something I want to deal with if at all possible. So we’ve had no playdates and kept mostly to ourselves. On Friday though we did welcome my sweet little niece, Abby, for a few hours. Her mama told me that she was having a rough teething day, but they still wanted to hang out. We enjoyed a few hours together, although Abby really WAS having a tough time. She fussed off and on and got upset when usually-beloved Owen came too close.

Kylie texted me yesterday and said that Abby had broken out in blisters around her mouth and arms. And I started to really worry. She had JUST been over. Hand, foot, and mouth is highly contagious, and my boys were not going to escape it forever. I quickly decided that they should not visit the church nursery this morning, and Roy and I reluctantly decided to forego our football kickoff party with Oliver and Kylie. This was the biggest bummer of them all. Ky and I had planned the food and the weather was supposed to be cool and rainy. In short, it was going to be perfect for huddling under blankets in sweatpants, watching football while consuming vast quantities of soup and muffins.

I embarked on a frantic search to find somebody who could stay with the boys while Roy and I fulfilled our church duties. Martha, always Martha, was willing, although she warned me, “I’ve had a fever for a few days. I’m feeling a lot better today.” I asked if she happened to have any blisters and she responded, surprised, “Well, actually, I do have a couple on my hand. Why?”

I didn’t really have much of a choice. Weighing my options, it was better for my surely-infected boys to stay at home with Martha than risking spreading it to the entire west side of Rochester. I wasn’t going to be that mother.

I packed the boys up to pick Martha up from college and watched the rain fall fast on my windshield. James is having a renaissance with an old favorite song, “You Are the Answer” (or, as he calls it, “You Are the Question”...how philosophical). It was on loop over the back speakers and they were bouncing and singing away in their car seats. I absentmindedly thought about the church weekend services, which book I would read before bed, what to make for lunch since we weren’t going to get any of Kylie’s Oktoberfest stew, and inwardly sighed over all the illness plaguing our favorite people.

Everybody’s been so sick! We’ve been lucky to escape it so far. Owen just had that fever a couple of weeks ago. Little man finally got those front two teeth! Teething fevers are the worst. He’s such a trooper. He even had that sore on one of his sucking fingers and got along with a smile. It’s too bad he sucks those fingers so hard. I remember when my brother used to get blisters on his favorite finger from constantly sucking it.

I can’t believe how fast he’s growing up. He crawls everywhere now so quickly…I can’t keep up with him! That carpet really rubs his feet up. He’s toughening up now that those two blisters on his toes are turning into callouses.

Wait.

Fever…finger…toes…

OH. NO.

I got to church and texted Kylie. I believe the gist of the content was something along the lines of:

“WE DID THIS TO EVERYONE!!!!!!!”

And Kylie wrote back, “Oh yeah! That does seem to make sense. Didn’t you mention that he had had a fever blister on his lip?”

“DAH! NOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!”

So, in short, if you or your children have had hand, foot, and mouth disease in the past week or so, it’s my fault. While my bathroom was out of commission, my ceiling dripping, and my sanity compromised from lack of personal hygiene, my son had HF&M and generously passed it on to everybody whose bathtub we borrowed. (Or engagement party attended.)

He was totally in the church nursery last Sunday too.

<holds head in shame>

If there can be a silver lining from all of this, we decided to just go ahead anyway and get all of us infected folk together. The kickoff party went on as planned. The food was good, the weather cold and wet, and blankets abundant.

To Joe and Lachlan, Silas, Kylie and Abby, Hayden and Liam, Martha, and probably Dad Smith, we apologize. Please don’t blame Owen. He’s very cute you know, and he can’t be held accountable for his germs, or the fact that he’s so darn sociable everybody wants to hold him.

Today’s 1%: Well, fortunately, I finally realized that my kid was spreading pestilence across western New York. Unfortunately, probably too late to undo most of the damage. I did take some extra time after the service today to connect with some newer faces and hopefully do some personal investing in my church. Needing to get outside my own needs and space more often and hear other people’s stories.