Bluegrass Mama

So far as I can recall, I’ve only had the flu twice.  The first time was when I was in the 4th grade, which would have been in the late 60s.  All I really remember is that it’s the only time I ever missed three days of school in a row.  I suspect I ate a lot of Lipton’s chicken noodle soup, which was the home remedy of choice in our family.

Back when HS was in second grade (moving up to the early 90s), he came down with a nasty case of strep.  A day or two after he’d been diagnosed and put on antibiotics, I got sick.  I couldn’t remember when I’d felt worse.  I went to my doctor, confident I’d have a positive strep culture and get some lovely drugs.

It was not to be.  “You have the flu,” she said.  “Lots of people will say they have it when they don’t, but you really do.”  And the usual advice to get lots of rest and drink plenty of fluids.

I dragged myself home and put myself to bed.  The next morning, I still felt awful.  I was able to get up long enough to ascertain that HS was ambulatory.  So I put him on the school bus, knowing there was no way I could take care of a 7 year old for the day (my memory is shaky on why Mr. B wasn’t available for parental duty, but apparently he either couldn’t miss work that day or was out of town).

HS and I both survived.  It was only later that I learned that he had fallen asleep at his desk that day for about 2 hours.  Thank heavens for an understanding teacher who figured he needed the sleep more than he needed to hear what she was teaching.

All of which is leading up to the fact that when one of my employers was offering free flu shots to staff. I decided to go for it.  I got my first ever flu shot today.  BD had the flu mist a couple of weeks ago.  Mr. B was a little hesitant till I informed him that if he chose not to get the shot and actually came down with the flu, we were not going to nurse him through it.  So let’s hope they picked the right flu strain when they made this year’s vaccines!