By Patsy
There are many pros and cons to living in an RV. When we first decided to start our adventure on the road, I thought I had researched them all, but sadly, I was mistaken. There were a few surprise issues that came along with living in an RV that I had not previously considered. One of those illusive issues was the one that deals with cold and flu season.
One of the cons of living in close proximity to each other is that if one child comes down with a cold, all the family will be sharing the cold. However, depending on how you chose to look at this, it could be a pro. After all, you will not be listening to everyone’s lungs for the next several days wondering if anyone else is going to come down with this, you just know it is going to happen and buy children’s cold medicine in bulk.
Of course buying children’s cold medicine in bulk is a con, because so many pharmacies are keeping the medicine behind the counter and you have to go up and ask for it with an ID, fingerprints and a signed promise not to use the chemicals in the medicine for anything other than its intended purpose. For our family of 7, I need quite a large amount of this stuff and it is getting a little tricky scoring enough to help all my sons. On the pro side we are so often on the move, that I rarely have to visit the same pharmacy twice. Just about the time I accumulate enough cold and cough medicine and the pharmacists have put my picture up next to their window with the caption “Don’t Sell to this Woman”, we are on our way and hitting the next pharmacy in another county.
Then there is the con of trying to get some sleep in an RV when you can hear all the coughing going on all night. You can’t just shut a door and so shut out the sounds. Since we are all within 32 feet of each other, you hear all the sounds of the congestion concerto played out throughout the wee hours of the morning. The pro on this is that one vaporizer takes care of the entire family in one fell swoop. At bed time, we give each child cold medicine, schmeer their chests with Vicks and then plug in the vaporizer. Then my husband and I look at each other trying to decide if we should give ourselves a good dose of cold medicine so we can sleep through all their noise. We chose to be good and not partake in the medication process….usually.
As I sit and write, I am listening to a symphony of coughs and sniffles that, were it put to music, would take at least 10 sheets of staff paper. It isn’t very pretty, but it is rather well orchestrated if I do say so myself. Each son wakes with the faint whisper of a dry cough. As he opens his eyes more fully, the cough turns into a throat clearing substantial noise. Finally, in an effort to clear his lungs well enough to breathe, he lets go with a cough that crescendos enough to wake his brother. As the first son quiets for a session of sniffling, the waking brother begins his morning cough. And thus the sounds of musical mucous echo through our home.
I keep telling myself that this is only going to last a few days. I tell myself that having everyone sick at the same time is better than having one sick for three days, then the next one sick for three days, and so on. This way, we will get no sleep for just a few days and then we will be done. I tell myself to remember that the boys are not feeling very good and to be as patient as I can since they are likely to be a little extra whiney. I keep telling myself that this raw feeling in the back of my throat has NOTHING to do with the illness running through our family. I keep telling myself that I am the mom and moms do not get sick days. I keep telling myself these things, but I am having a very….cough, cough…hard time….cough, hack….believing the things…sniffle, sneeze, cough….that I say. Cough, choke…I think I’m a liar.
Check out lots more posts like these at Patsy's blog French Fries Under the Seat!
No comments:
Post a Comment