My House is Haunted

Newsletter 2022-05-03

There's a ghost in this story. But first, a plague.

I thought we met our illness quota for the year a few weeks ago when my four-year-old, Waffle, was hospitalized for influenza b and croup. She bounced back just fine thanks to her hearty makeup (15 percent gumption, 85 percent evil), and things settled down for a week. Then I got sick, but I’m the least valuable member of the family, and I managed to avoid throwing up (if only barely), so our house seemed back on track for perfect health. Then this week happened. My nine-year-old, Betsy, missed school Wednesday and Thursday for the flu. My five-year-old, Lucy, was out Thursday and Friday. I somehow managed to get sick again Friday night since anything worth doing is worth doing twice. Only my seven-year-old, Mae, avoided coming down with anything. It helps that her favorite leisure-time activity is to watch her tablet in her bed with her comforter over her head, which essentially puts her in a self-imposed quarantine. If the coronavir…