Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Excuse me while I whine

I’m sick. Again. While it’s not the soul sucking experience that was strep throat from two weeks ago the constant sneezing and blowing of my nose has resulted in a distinctly Rudolph-like appearance. Just in time for the holidays, right? It is compounded by a cold snap that keeps me from feeling warm more than a few hours a day (when I’m snuggled in bed with the furnace of a dog next to me). I’m trying to figure out why exactly it is that I’ve been getting sick so often. I’m in the best health of my life and at age 33 I figure I’ve been exposed to a lot of germs up this point which should have strengthened my immune system. Apparently germs from Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Virginia differ from North Carolina ones.

Cameron has been sick frequently but she seems to shake it off and/or ignore it successfully. Is it because she is young and oblivious to how she should be feeling? Is the fact that I’m middle aged (really, is 33 middle aged? Kind of a scary thought) and feel the aches and pains so much more? I’m liberally dosing myself with drugs and still feeling miserable.

Interesting, DH has yet to catch any of these bugs. I have a couple of theories about how he has avoided illness so far this winter. He works at home so he avoids the work germs that I come into contact with regularly. DH avoids errand running like it’s the plague. Yes, he will go grocery shopping and to Home Depot. Most other errands fall to me which I don’t mind because it gets me and Cameron out of the house. I’m also more willing to let Cameron stick her fingers in my mouth and feed me food than DH is. Cameron’s latest obsession is to force feed me and DH her snacks and she won’t take no for an answer. The best is when she puts in her mouth first and then forces it into mine. Lovely picture, isn’t it? Finally, I have a theory, corroborated by my friend, the Internet, that men just generally get sick less than women. This study confirms that men get sick less but whine about it more. I think DH would disagree with the last part of that hypothesis. I am woman…hear me complain.

Would you agree that women get sick more often than men? How has your winter been faring when it comes to illness?

3 comments:

Mommy, Esq. said...

Do you take a multivitamin? That might help. Husband gets sick way more often then I do so I can't really relate. Now I'm going to catch something, dammit!

A. said...

I'm not sure if M. gets sick more often than I do, but his level of complaint is far higher so it makes it seem like he is 10 times sicker than I've ever been...

LauraC said...

DUDE. Jon gets sick ALL THE TIME. He always has. The first two years with the kids in group care? I had to take care of three babies. That is why we are DONE.

Me? I never or rarely get sick. But I am also a mean mommy with my kids when they are sick. No hands in mouth, no kisses on lips, and liberal hand washing. If there is puking and I get puke on me, I clean up myself first then deal with the crying child. MEAN.

The short version of the story is the boys were in day care three days before they came home with a 10 day puking virus. Jon caught it after the first day. I thought I would die, three boys puking in my living room. Nothing like learning that lesson right out of the gate!

My other theory is that I was a day care kid and Jon was a stay-at-home kid.

PS. You might note I had a man cold earlier this year. It's because the boys are so independent at 4 that I could leisurely feel sorry for myself about it. Previous 4 years, too busy to feel self pity.