A record?

Well, 11 days into school and we have our first casualty. Hannah was sent home sick today. Now, "sick" is a relative term, and she just has a cold, but apparently she felt miserable enough to go to the nurse, who of course sent her home - who wants a germy, possibly swine-flu infected, jr. high school student around? But really? She doesn't have a fever, just some cold symptoms and is really tired.

So, Jeff asked me, what is it about jr. high and high school that seems to make kids sicker? Well, duh! They are going through hormone changes, they get up earlier and get less sleep, they eat junk from the vending machines and cafeteria, they share drinks and food with friends, they are crammed together at lunch, in assemblies and in classes. No wonder they pick up whatever comes along.

When my kids were smaller they never got sick. Hardly an ear infection among them as babies, rarely picked up the cold of the week as preschoolers, and spent most of elementary school well and in attendance (few exceptions, Hannah's appendix for example, were flukes). But now it seems that Hayley and Hannah "don't feel good" more than they do. And there's nothing worse than not feeling good when you are sleep-deprived.

I really wish school didn't start so early for the older kids. They need their sleep and little kids get up earlier naturally. We've even started a 9 p.m. bedtime (as opposed to 10 for the older kids last year). My thinking is that they need to be IN bed earlier so they fall asleep earlier. Even if they lay in bed reading or listening to music, at least their bodies are resting.

So, tonight I made homemade chicken noodle soup with all its healing properties to hopefully ward off any more cold symptoms in the rest of the family. It seems like last year at least once a week, SOMEONE was sick and staying home. And even one missed day in jr. high and high school is a biggie. It's so hard to catch up.

As of this writing, Hayley has been away from home for 12 hours. Leaving at 6:30 p.m., school for six hours, drama rehearsal for two hours after school and now she's into the second hour of an ASB meeting, and STILL hasn't been home to do homework or eat dinner. By the time she gets home, she will just have enough time to complete any homework she has, eat something and be off to bed, only to start it all over tomorrow.

I miss summer!