It’s true.
We have become the Universe’s petri dish this winter. It’s as if this family has been sealed in a giant zip-lock bag and set to marinade in coughs, colds, flu, sore throats and ebola. Add two daycare kids who come from a large family and we have what I fondly call Persistus.
Persistus \per-SIS-tus\, noun
A traumatic event involving extended illness which is circulated and transmitted in an unyielding fashion to
anyone who merely looks upon those infected or places a foot upon the land of those involved.
When I joined the Procreate Wrecklessly Foundation, no one warned me of the frustrations involved with having illnesses sweep through a large family. Everything is magnified nine-fold to the sixth power. That’s because the males in my home, all six of them, grab their hearts and proclaim “Oh, this is the biggest one I ever had. You hear that Elizabeth? I’m coming to join you honey.” the moment they contract a sniffle. No amount of shame can bring forth the slightest hint of bravado . Their “I could take on a platoon of Navy Seals with one hand behind my back” machismo is no where to be found in the presence of a congested nasal passage. They just surrender to the couch in complete cowardice and pray for Jesus to return quickly…before the Nyquil wears off.
The Persistus began two weeks before Christmas.
It’s now February.
My house feels toxic.
You win, Persistus. I wave my white flag of Kleenex with Lotion as a sign of peace.
