It got better before it got worse.

So last week both kids had high fevers. I took them to the doctor's because Claire's school has sent home two notices about reports of strep throat, and we wanted to rule that out. Of course Ben who had been listless all morning long - like overcooked spaghetti - perked up immediately when we got to the doctor's office. He was giving high-fives, pointing out everything that he knew the name of, and showing the PA how very very ticklish he is. Both kids checked out. No strep, no ear infections, just a virus. And by Wednesday they were back to their usual perky selves.

The rest of the week was normal. And then Saturday at 1 AM Claire climbed into our bed. When she woke me up I got up to go the bathroom, and she followed me saying she needed to show me something. I took her back to her room only to find that her bed was covered in barf. Ugh. I changed her into clean pajamas, wiped her face and nose, and tucked her into bed beside Brian while I put sheets in the laundry, made the trundle bed, and found a basin. She was up sick twice more during the night, and several times in the morning.
All day long she alternated between napping and lying on top of me. Fortunately Brian was home to take care of the boys (did I mention we'd had our nephew overnight). By about 8 PM Claire was showing signs of life, and we tucked her into her trundle bed feeling pretty confident that she was over this bug.

Sunday was fine for everyone, but we kept it low-key, and didn't leave the house all day. Then Monday it was Ben's turn to be sick.
So I spent another day masquerading as a pillow, although it was a little harder to keep Claire busy and away from Ben when she couldn't climb up on me, or go outside to play, or have the picnic that - judging by her tantrum - she so desperately, desperately needed. Everyone seemed to be healthy today, so I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that we are done with the viruses for a while. I cannot count the number of loads of laundry I have done over the past four days. I hope to finish cleaning and disinfecting the house tomorrow.