Hello and welcome to a sunny, last Saturday of the month here at the Wannaskan Almanac. Today is February 26th.
We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming due to illness.
I'd heard that a bout of stomach flu had ravaged through our Wannaskan hamlet a few weeks ago. Our family is pretty healthy so I was feeling relief when it seemed that wave had passed us. As a mom at church this week regaled accounts of having all seven people in her household ill at the same time, I shuddered.
The first to fall was the First Grader. I kept him home on Thursday, feeling optimistic that he just needed his guts to settle and he'd be back to school that afternoon. What was I thinking?
Friday, it was clear he'd turned a corner, but there was another kid coming down the block. Me. The last time I retched like that, it had turned out I was pregnant. "You're not pregnant, are you?"
Living in a home with two cultures, you can bet that how to treat the stomach flu can quickly become a point of contention. I wanted to stand by my trusty ginge ale - "That's what my mom always did!" - while hubby was insistent that tea was the way to go.
Blueberries! Onions! Ginger!
His latest recommendation was to give dark chocolate to the First Grader, to which I gave a resounding, "Hell, no."
But he pulled up the research and, apparently, cocoa was a type of binding agent for diarrhea. Which reminded me about this beautiful book I read over the summer, Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer. In her book, she recounts her own research efforts to see if the Potawatomi practices in caring for plants can be backed by modern-day scientific methods. Short version: yes, they were. So, with that thought - that cultures older than the United States' modern culture had figured out how to relieve illness, I thought, why not?
I gave the First Grader the chocolate. And, really, it seems to have worked.
Saturday morning, I noticed that the Fourth Grader had yet to come downstairs to watch morning cartoons. Sure enough, she was still sleeping. The signs were only too clear.
My engineering husband, doing what he does best, evaluates. "Did you wash your hands? What did you eat? Do you eat enough fruits and vegetables? Did you do your push-ups? Are you getting outside enough?" The guy's got an iron stomach, so I have to bite my tongue and remind myself that he's trying to be useful.
Saturday afternoon, I learn that Senior 2.0 has been plagued as well. He is not home, however. He's down in the Twin Cities for the Girls State Hockey Tournament with the pep band. He plays bass guitar. But right now, he's convalescing in his hotel room.
Hubby just posted in our family "Kiddos" Snapchat (in Czech): "If you have them, take saltine crackers and DARK chocolate. Bananas too." The chaperone, who is a nurse and a personal friend, just texted to say she's bringing him soup and water.
The WAKWIR* seems to have been spared and spent the morning at the Mall of America. Dad texted him, "Wash your hands."
The only one who has been truly spared is The Oldest, who's currently hitting the slopes in Stowe, Vermont.
My coping strategy is to try to find the silver linings in all of this.
1.) Not everyone in the family got it.
2.) Hubby is taking care of all of us.
3.) And, in a way, it's sort of like spending family time together.
We're all going to rest up now. The Warroad Lady Warriors are playing in the Class A championship game at 4pm. If we're going to be miserable, at least we're miserable together and can try to do something fun.
On This Day
Historic Highlights (credits)
Happy Birthday to You!🎶
Remembering You
Kim
*Wannaskan Almanac Kid Writer-in-Residence
Dr. Kellogg recommended corn flakes for everything.
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