I am behind in my blog this week. In fact, I am starting a new week without having blogged last week. Let me explain…my husband left town last week for a business trip and I became a single mom from Wednesday through Saturday. Had it not been for my awesome mom, I would have seriously died. My kids would have been left to fend for themselves. They would have been found by the neighbors, eating mustard and pepperoncinis from the fridge trying to sustain life. The dog would have survived on Raquel’s dirty diapers (my dog has a problem getting into the trash to obliterate dirty diapers. Last week, she broke the nice ceramic wastebasket trying to get at one). So we made it through (barely) and this is why I am behind on blogging.

It wouldn’t have been so bad had it not been for Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease. Have you heard of it? It is an awful name for a virus, right? It makes me think that we caught something from the animals playing at the farm. No, that would be Foot and Mouth Disease, but close. I just don’t understand why they had to give a virus such a scary name. It isn’t like parents have enough to worry about figuring out what is wrong with their kids in the first place let alone having to suffer mild heart palpitations after the doctor comes back with that one. Wait a second? My children are not hoofed animals.

So Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease is apparently a virus that causes flu-like symptoms; fever, loss of appetite, followed by sores in the mouth, and small blister-like spots on the soles of hands, feet, and buttocks. I thought there was a problem when my youngest wasn’t eating her food and became very fussy with me. She normally is a pretty good eater (of the few things she likes, that is), and she was drooling more than she normally does (this kid has to still wear a bib at 18 months even when she’s not eating to keep her shirt dry). After further inspection, she had the spots on her hands, feet, and rump. Ugh! Just what I needed, a sick baby. I’m sure she got it from the gym daycare because that is her only exposure to other kids and her sisters hadn’t gotten it yet.

Then on Thursday, Georgia got sent home from school with a fever. Low and behold she had the rash on her hands and feet. Later she broke out in the mouth sores and had the hardest time managing the pain of trying to eat with them. Having a sore, droolly mouth, is no fun. Poor thing. I concocted a mouthwash at the doctor’s suggestion of Maalox and Benadryl to help sooth the sores. Still, Georgia was only able to eat some ice cream and a string cheese that day.

I myself had just finally kicked a cold that I had gotten two weeks ago when this dread virus reared its ugly head. Now I had to contend with the possibility of getting something else. And what about the fact that I was pregnant? So I began to do my research and called my OB. Luckily, for adults, HFAM disease is fairly mild if they get it at all. I read that since most of adults have been exposed before they tend to not get it. Most adults who aren’t Veronica Blaustein that is. Now I can’t be sure, but I haven’t been hungry and there is a sore in my mouth. Great. At least I don’t have spots on my hands and feet.

Let me just say that I have never inspected my children’s hands, mouth, and feet more in their lives than I ever have this past week. I don’t usually complain about my children’s feet ask anybody; I love me some baby feet. I remember the first time I took Olivia out of her baby footed pajamas, grabbed her clammy little foot and took a long hard whiff. I was delighted and appalled all at the same time that her little foot smelled like feet. No way!

I love my children’s feet spots or not but I am very relieved as we start out this week to know that none of my kids are infected with this dread virus anymore. Now I have to just work on getting and staying healthy and keeping my kids healthy too.

Fall is here all right and those gnarly illnesses have been quick to take down this family since school started. I have heard that HFAM Disease is going around so keep washing your hands folks. Stay healthy, and enjoy this beautiful October weather we are having.