We celebrated the viral festival at our home two weeks back. No, this has nothing to do with viral marketing, nor was it much of a celebration. All three of us came down with viral fever-that too a pretty decent bout. My son was the first to pick it up from God knows where. I have always insisted on him sharing things with others,be it toys or chocolates, and to his credit, he graciously shared the infection with both me and my husband.
When everyone in the house falls sick together, it is quiet a riot. Who will take care of whom was the big question. That mothers are blessed with superhuman strength is something I experienced during this phase. We had our share of fun too. We fought with each other for the thermometer, almost as vehemently as we used to fight for the remote. The poor little mercury bulb was mercilessly stuck into two mouths and one underarm one after the other. We compared readings and congratulated the one with the highest score. My son usually topped, followed by me, and then my husband. The hospital fellows had a great time dolling out one bill after the other for consultation, injections, medicines etc etc. Add to it the fun of midnight adventures. Thrice my son's temperature shot up to astronomical levels and refused to budge even with heavy doses of that magic potion named Crocin. So we had to rush him to the paediatric emergency. Now, outings are a big hit with my son. Even with 104+ fever, the word TATA is enough to rouse him. He just loved these midnight outings. He also made the most of the attention he received and there is not one nurse in the paediatric emergency ward with whom he did not flirt while we were worried to death about his illness. Often, the doctors had to pluck him from the arms of some sexy nurse to examine him. I also got to know that my son knows how to give flying kisses, early beginner that he is!
Anyways, all is well that ends well. All of us are back to normal now. My son is back in playschool. My husband is slogging away at work. And I am back to my heavily neglected blog. Memories of this 'viral festival' will stay with me for a long time to come. Now, I can talk about it with a touch of humor, but I shall never forget those 20 minutes when they took my son inside to insert the IV needle and I was asked to stand outside, completely helpless, just listening to him cry.
