Tarantella!!!

Tuesday found me in total disarray. I was to go out of town the next day for work but my children were still sick. It is a dilemma that working women find themselves in at some occasion. The flights have been booked, the arrangements made, but then something comes up at home. What to do?!

S was already OK. One down, I thought. But since F still had a temperature, I decided to bring him to the doctor that very morning. As luck would have it, we did not have to wait long to see our doctor. The verdict: intestinal flu, which accounted for his fever and crappy toilet activity. With the right diet and antibiotics, he should be fine in a couple of days. When we got home, another complication came up: E had fever. And that same afternoon as well, S developed rashes, which looked a lot like the German Measles that K had just a few months ago.

I was quietly going out of my mind, counting the hours when they'd have to take their next dose of medicine, giving them quick sponge baths, giving them water, asking them what else I could do for them. My youngest son K asked, "OK ka lang, Ma?" He knew how worried I could get. And I answered a weak, "I'm OK." A quick phone call to my sister B revived me somewhat. "J, children get sick all the time. Don't worry. Go! I will check up on them."

The next day, I told my daughter to go to our doctor first thing in the morning and to bring her brother S with him. By that time, the boys' temperatures have normalized. And as I boarded the plane, I was confident that they were on their way to recovery. Four hours later, my daughter was on the line: she had pharyngitis and S had German Measles; they've got their medications, and they're all just going to rest at home. I gave a big sigh of relief.

Breathe, Jing, breathe!