So I just tested positive yesterday. 🙁

It wasn’t really unexpected.

Jonny tested positive a week ago. He had a mild fever, a sore throat for a couple days, and a slight cough.

Jonah tested positive on Tuesday.

Monday, he had an AWFUL fever at 104.5°F (40.28°C) for a day but he slept about 17 hours and was good to go the next day. He didn’t seem to have any other symptoms.

As a matter of fact, the next morning, he woke up chomping at the bit to go do something fun.

Mama, because she is our resident “superhero,” tested negative.

Mama is a front line worker in the ICU so it is imperative that she keeps her health. Especially now. All week she has been staying in the garage with our space heaters, isolating from us.

Truth be told, I was probably “positive” on Tuesday, but I didn’t want to waste an at-home test to confirm it when it wouldn’t have made any difference for my daily activities.

Sick, healthy, contagious, whatever… I’m not taking a break. I’m parenting.

That’s what I do.

Luckily, my symptoms were pretty mild. I never had a temp. Just a little sinus congestion, a slight loss of smell, and it felt a little bit like I was breathing in an enclosed room with a fog machine running.

Oh. And the fatigue. It felt like I had stayed up WAY too late and gotten up multiple times during the night and woke up for good at zero-dark:30… and needed multiple cups of coffee to do the most basic task… so pretty much, like every other day.

Frankly, if I was working, with my “symptoms,” I wouldn’t have even “called in sick.”

Last weekend, my sister dropped off a weeks worth of brand new “Jojo toys” to play with.

I doled them out one toy per day.

I wasn’t sure how we would last the week quarantined. What would keep a “perfectly healthy” Jonah in the house for at least 5 days?

The only thing I could honestly think of was something exciting and constantly “new.” Something that wouldn’t be boring after 5 minutes. Something alive.

Something like…

…a new pet.

We seriously thought long and hard about getting a new …”something.”

Wr needed a pet that wouldn’t be much work…that would keep the kids entertained if I got “SICK” and was useless in the entertainment department…that would be hearty and not be dead in 3 days and that would play well with our cats.

We thought about goldfish, hamsters, even turtles.

But, in the end, I told Mama I would figure it out. We only needed to “buy” around a week of time. Getting a new pet would be a much longer commitment than that. And then, when the pet eventually died, the kids would want to replace it over and over again for the rest of forever.

Frankly, I don’t want another PET until the kids are able to take care of the pets we already have. (Which may be “never)

I just can’t add to my current mental workload. Especially not for an extended period of time.

So, to keep Jonah from tearing up the house, and to keep him away from other people, we have been “quarantining at the beach” in January. Sick or healthy. Rain or shine. At least 4-6 hours. Every day until the sun sets.

Jonny has been well enough to fend for himself at home. Jonah is FINE.

But here we are. “Quarantining.”

Jonah walks up and down the beach climbing rocks, throwing rocks and sticks into the water, watching the tide come in and go out, eating ice cream, and generally having the time of his life (while daddy “freezes”)

Thankfully, the boys have been cleared to go back to school on Tuesday (yay!) and they are so ready for it. So is Daddy.

They had two weeks of winter break, one week of school, and a whole ‘nother week at home.

I’m thankful both boys caught the “Crud” at the same time and both got to stay home last week.

Jonah would NOT have fared this well if he knew school was going on without him, especially if Bubba was allowed to go, when he was not.

As much as he likes going to the beach by himself, he LOVES being at school with his friends.

For Jonah, just a single day of positive social interaction will always be better than ANY amount of time in isolation, no matter how much fun it is.

How are you all faring with your health and quarantining and all of that?

#ausome

Original Facebook Post.