They get it from me, I guess

When I get a cold, there's a good chance I'm going to have a serious coughing fit. A couple of times. I remember several times in school, I'd cough so hard that I'd have to just leave the room because I couldn't stop long enough to ask the teacher to go to the nurse's office. I'd cough like crazy. Til my eyes watered. Til I nearly gagged. No amount of water or cough drops could make it pass. I just had to cough it out. I still get those sometimes (often with horrible timing - like during church). I have even coughed so hard that I seemed to sprain my tongue.

And guess what? My girls are coughers. When they get a cold, they cough. Not the smoker's hack. Not the baby seal. Just as if they've swallowed water the wrong way. They'll cough all day. No fevers. Nothing else. A little sniffle means a lot of coughing. Natalie stayed home Wednesday, and Ella's coughing day is today. They'll do it 3 or 4 times in a school year. They'll cough a bit, and then one day they'll just cough non-stop. Usually when it's at the tail-end. So the terrible coughing day is when they're actually getting better.

But since it's just a cough, and they don't feel particularly sick otherwise, they're kind of high maintenance sickies. Not interested in laying on the couch all day. ENTERTAIN ME. Natalie's a little easier than Ella, because she's willing to watch more movies & relax. Ella's gonna last through almost one movie. And then she'll feel done with being sick. It's hard keeping them home from school, when they don't feel terrible or have fevers. But I do it more because it's such a distraction. And I suppose they're coughing out a bunch of cold germs.

So today I won't really get anything done. And I'll think a lot about that gingerbread latte I was going to try after dropping Ella off. Or the walk I was going to take since it's already 50 & sunny. I will miss my few hours of peace. But I still feel grateful. Grateful I work from home, so it doesn't throw my day off that much. Grateful it is just a cold. Grateful I'm familiar with their colds now, and I know what to expect. And so very grateful just to have them for another day. Our friend Patty just lost her 4 month old grandson in his sleep. This life does not make promises or guarantees. So today I will be thankful to listen to the coughing.