Here We Go Again

The Girl has pneumonia. AGAIN. This will be the third time in the last year. The first time I kept her out of the hospital by my sheer force of will. The second time she was in the hospital for 2 ½ days after the fever caused a febrile seizure. This time who the hell knows what will happen. I think we caught it really early this time and have her started on pretty strong antibiotics, so I’m hoping that the worst thing will be her missing two camp days this week (which other than pissing me off is no big deal).

And it’s also made me remember when I was little and used to get pneumonia often enough that I remember it. I remember being really, really sick for just about every Christmas. My mom got to be a pro at building me a little sheet tent over the couch in the living room with the humidifier tucked inside. I would live in that tent for days at a time, alternating between watching daytime TV and dozing. I can distinctly remember the patterns on the sheet and my mom ducking inside to take my temperature every so often and bring me apple juice and chicken noodle soup.

I also remember that I had this green Tupperware bowl that I would put on my head when I was sick. It was one of the original pieces of Tupperware in that trademark green. My parents had started out by using it to pour water over my head in the bath and for some reason whenever I was sick I would immediately put it on my head in the most pitiful of ways.

I would emerge from my sheet tent long enough to don the bowl and open presents on Christmas Day. Then I would crumple back onto the couch and drift off into a feverish sleep listening to the rustling of bows and the ripping of wrapping paper.

So I guess she’s inherited my independence. My willfulness. My blue eyes. My drama queen tendencies. And my weak, pneumonia prone lungs. Had it been my choice, I’d have given her my wit, long legs and ravishing smile.