Yep; the fiendish, contagious, nerve of a disease/illness known as ‘chicken pox’ has entered this household.

Katrina had it first two week ago from who-knows-where and who-knows-who, but she caught it all the same, and Jason figured it was as good a time as any for all the kids to have the pox now and get it over with. And so, two weeks later when Katrina was over hers, they awoke one morning with the chicken pox, slight fevers, sores and all. Us Willi were safe, since we were vaccinated when we were little.

“Pappy, I only have one chicken pock!” I heard Julia exclaim excitedly to Dad during lunch.

Poor Julia – that was only the first day. Now she and all the kids have the ‘pox’ all over their faces and bodies.

The next morning was Sunday. I awoke early, quickly showered, dressed, and was ready to be off to church when I noticed a spot on my leg. Hmm, kind of bubbly, itchy, and pink; looks and feels like poison ivy. I thought nothing of it, since I tend to get poison ivy often.

But then, I found another spot…and soon another, and another. I was starting to get worried; what strange form of skin disease was growing on my skin, since of course it couldn’t be chicken pox? I was vaccinated for it, after all. I showed these weird bumps to Mom at breakfast, who, after a thorough examination of these said,

“Looks like chicken pox, but I can’t tell for sure. You should stay home from church just to be safe.”

As the day progressed and my ‘bumps’ grew more prominent, it became more obvious that Mom’s assumption was correct; I did indeed have the chicken pox.

*groan*

…and that’s how it went folks; the chicken pox. I had no fever or symptoms on the days before, but I’ve got the pox part, and Nate has some as well. Angie and Walter, on the other hand, are doing just fine, nary a sign of anything amiss. (I know, it’s not fair, right? We were all vaccinated at the same time when we were younger, so why should the two younger of the Willi get the chicken pox and not the two elder? Why should we have gotten it at all? Who knows. It’s a very strange thing altogether.

I must say that it’s not too bad having the chicken pox now, since we can all have it together. (Nate, the kids and I, that is) In the mornings we do some school (and oatmeal baths for the kids), after lunch we lick our cranberry ‘pox’sickles Karlyn freezes for us, during the afternoon we usually watch a movie together, and while sitting at the dinner table we compare each other’s sores, racing to see who’s will scab over first.

I’m currently over the ‘itchy stage of chicken pox’ as we call it, and am only left with sore, rather weird looking spots on my chest and face, well on my way towards recovery. After this, a vaccination and a case of the pox, hopefully I’ll never get it again. (horah!) Maybe the Lord is building up my immunity for something in the future; who knows? At any rate, I certainly hope I’ll be scabbed over enough to join my family in our plans for this weekend!

God bless you all, and stay healthy!

-Kasie