The older I
get the more I find myself longing for my younger years when I knew everything.
You know, that point in your late teens and early twenties when you have
everything figured out and you don’t know how in the world your parents are so
stupid as to not know this stuff. One thing I totally had figured out was how
to be healthy.
I
grew up as the oldest of 5 kids. The youngest was almost 11 years younger than
I. As with most large families sickness was no stranger to us. I’m not sure
which was worse, getting sick first or watching everyone drop one by one just
waiting for your turn. I remember one Christmas/New Year season, after high school,
that any time I spent at home I spent in my bedroom because everyone had this
terrible stomach bug. My self-imposed exile didn’t work. I still got it.
Then one magical day Matthew and I
got married and moved out on our own. I had a home of my own. I grocery shopped
for us, cleaned for us, and managed the home. That winter we didn’t get sick.
We didn’t really get sick the next one either and that’s when I figured it out.
We, Matt and I, obviously had this nutrition/immune system thing figured out.
It was plain to see that we had gone from living at our parent’s, being sick,
to living on our own with not a sickness in sight! Clearly, we were eating
better. We had a plethora of fresh fruits and vegetables that we ate which of
course boosted our immune systems to the point of near superhuman. We also made
sure we had the proper amount of exercise in our lives. This also aided the
superhuman immune system. We got the right amount of sleep. I made sure the
bathroom was sparkling clean. Yes, we had figured out the secret to perfect
health and it was so obviously easy I’m not sure how our parents missed it all
those years.
And that’s when Elaina was born. As
the parents of a newborn we were very careful with her and she never even knew
what vomit was until she was over two years old. And then she started licking
things and touching things and putting random things in her mouth. She got sick
and then so would we. But still, this didn’t mean anything. We were still way
beyond what we had grown up with. Kids have to get sick sometimes and since we
were cleaning up snot it wasn’t unusual to get a small sniffle here or there.
After one child comes two, and
three, and more; after more children comes school. This, this is when you
figure out that you actually know nothing. You take those angelic looking
children who lick things, let snot drip from their noses, cough and vomit
wherever they feel like and you put them all in one school together. Suddenly,
your magic world of superhuman immunity comes crashing down around you. I very
vividly remember one winter where Matt and I decided that we were going to do
the whole “5 fruits and veggies a day” thing. I, no joke, had 5 colds in a
three month span of time. I was
completely baffled!
Are there things you can do to aid
your immune system…sure there are. Are they more powerful than a room full of
snotty children…not on your life! Children are the kryptonite to an adult
immune system, it’s just fact. This winter has been a particularly brutal one
for us. Colds/Flu/Hand Foot and Mouth,ugh! Some days I really miss knowing the
secret to good health and wellness. Be
assured, someday the kids will grow up and move out and I will again discover
how to be healthy, at least until the grandkids start coming around.
