Day 1210 - OUTBREAK!!!

Please excuse the tardiness of my blog entries, but for some reason the entire Ichikawa household is sick. I don't know how we all got sick because the only place myself and the kids have been for the past week is...PRESCHOOL. DAMN PRESCHOOL!

The one thing I dreaded about preschool is the ease at which germs and sickness is spread. The first day I accompanied the kids to school, I noticed the large number of kids who either had runny noses or crusty noses. I swear I haven't seen so many people with nasal problems since Cocainefest '77.

Over the few days I attended class with Emma and Andrew, there was this one particular kid who became very friendly with me. Unfortunately, he was a walking petri dish of boogers and I tried to politely shoo him away.

I didn't want the other teachers to think I was this curmudgeon with kids, so I attempted to keep a cheery look on my face as I said to the kid, "Go away! Your face scares me." But day after day, he would some how sneak up on me unexpectedly and hug me while his mucus-filled nostrils spread across my Members Only jacket.

I don't know if I got sick by Booger Boy, but illness quickly spread in the house. On Thursday, Andrew complained about his ear hurting when eating. We took him to the doctor, and he had the beginning of an ear infection. On Friday, Emma had a low fever, but it quickly broke and was better by Saturday. On Sunday, my entire body began to ache. It was either a cold or due to my strenuous workout with 5 pound weights. Although Lisa did not have any signs of stuffiness, she certainly had signs of runniness...in her pants; she got a stomach bug. Finally on Monday, Andrew started to get a runny nose and he is pleasantly fighting off a cold.

People tell us that all of this illness will build up the immunity in the kids' body. So I did a little research, and it is true. Studies have shown that kids who go to preschool tend to get less sick in elementary school versus those kids who did not attend preschool. But the catch is that IT TAKES ONE YEAR FOR THEIR IMMUNITY TO BUILD UP. ONE FU*&ING YEAR!

Although this is depressing news to me, I guess all I can do is start to stash up on Costco tissue boxes and hope Lisa and I have enough sick days to last us through the next year. Oh! And to also make sure Booger Boy stays away from our kids.