Atchoo! Gadzundheit.

Day 11 Gratitude - Good health (even when I am sick)

After a week of having a cold that has sapped my energy, given me a non-stop headache, and annoyed me (and those around me) with a hacking cough I am glad to say I am on the mend. This little bit of whinging aside; I am generally a healthy individual. I rarely catch what the kids bring home, stomach bugs rarely grab a hold of me even if they sweep through everyone else in the house (including the dogs), and it is uncommon that I miss anything (work, kids’ events, social commitments) due to any kind of ailment. And for that I am very grateful.

Now this amazing fortitude came to me later in life. As a kid, as my mother is apt to remind me, it seems like I was often sick. From simple sniffles to almost annual bouts of bronchitis and the occasional case of pneumonia, ask anyone in my family, it was I who was the germ magnet. My sister on the other hand was the opposite, she, again, according to our family’s almanac (aka: my mother), never missed a day of school because of being sick. That is not to say I missed much school on this account either because in our house you had to be puking up an internal organ or have a fever hot enough to fry an egg on your forehead before permission was given to stay home; tough love apparently is the best way to build immunity. :) (A philosophy I find myself following with my own kids sometimes.)

But this is contrary to today’s rules. (And kids seem to be sick more often today than they were back when I was in school.)The expectation today, be it right, wrong, or more likely, somewhere in between, if your kid even so much as sniffles you are expected to keep them home; triple dose them with Echinacea, vitamin C and TLC’ and sterilizing every surface they come in even close contact with. I say nay. I adhere more to the “Everyone will eat a peck of dirt before they die” philosophy, and what does't kill you makes you stronger.

So while I digressed from today’s gratitude a little bit (I like to think of it as a detour rather than departure), I come back to reiterate that I am truly thankful for my health, and the good health of my family and friends. And wish everyone reading my blog a very healthy (and thankful) 2010.