There was a meme going around recently of some elaborate martial arts display of a person dodging a spear attack. The text on it said something about people who haven’t gotten covid yet. Tristen showed it to me and I’d actually thought something along the lines of what the gif articulated a day or so before.

But despite our deft maneuvering, the spear finally touched.

Fawkes was complaining about his head on Wednesday night. He felt hot so we took his temperature, and sure enough he had a fever. We checked Phoenix and Griffin and their temperatures were a little elevated too, but not too bad.

On an unrelated note, after bath time Phoenix and Griffin were running around like fools, as often happens when the kids get out of the bath. I don’t totally get that; it’s like when you bathe a dog and they get out and act all crazy. Anyway, Phoenix bumped his cheek really hard getting into Griffin’s bed and ended up with a pretty bad bruise extending a bit into a black eye. Maybe it’s a good thing he didn’t go to school the next day so his teachers didn’t think we abuse him.

Anyway, we had one Covid test and tested the twins with it on Thursday morning and it came back positive. Tristen had already called out of work because of the temperatures, although Griffin didn’t seem too bad. I woke up with a slight tickle in my throat, so we decided I’d stay upstairs all day with Fawkes and Phoenix while Tristen took care of Griffin downstairs. It was easier for the boys as the day went on.

We wanted more tests, of course, so Tristen went out to get some medicine and look for tests, but Covid tests are in notoriously short supply right now. There are drive-thru testing sites, but none of them had any available times.

Tipped off by a friend of Tristen’s mom, we found that Sunset Park Pharmacy had a good bit in store. When she went there though, a lady told her they were only selling one per household. So after she got back I went back out and was told the limit is four. Kind of annoyed about that.

I’d also ordered some from Walmart that were to be delivered today. I didn’t cancel that order because I figured it couldn’t hurt to have some extra in case anyone needed some, or if we’d need them again.

When Tristen got back she checked Griffin. Positive, of course. Not that it would have mattered too much because if she went back to work I’d have to watch all the boys together, and if she and I were both sick then everyone around Griffin would be sick.

As we found out shortly after Griffin’s test, I was positive and she somehow was not.

I’m going to be totally honest here. I wouldn’t wish an illness on someone, but I was a bit jealous. The prospect of watching the kids while they quarantined from school for ten days or whatever it is all on my own while trying to do some work and being sick myself was not something I looked forward to. And of course she felt kind of guilty.

But throughout the day Tristen did what she could to help. She made food for us and got pajamas ready while I bathed the kids. She cleaned up downstairs and finally undecorated most of the Christmas stuff.

On the plus side, I took advantage of the kids feeling tired and snuggly to watch The Eternals. I’m not sure where all the hate for it comes from.

I told Amanda, since the boys and I had been around Milly on Tuesday evening. As of now she’s got no symptoms or anything. They were planning to go out of town this weekend, but now are not. That has as much to do with the projected snow and ice where they were going than anything else though. She’ll still get tested though.

I felt a lot of guilt reading emails from the boys’ school. Their classes have to quarantine for five days. It’s not as bad as it could have been since the weekend is coming up and they’re off Monday anyway, but still, I can’t help but think how annoyed the other parents must be, though it’s not like we’ve been very irresponsible. A part of me feels a little embarrassed at getting covid, but as much and as easily as the omicron variant is spreading, and knowing that plenty of other people who have tried to be careful about it have gotten it, it lessens the sting. Several friends and family members have been infected lately.

Fortunately Tristen and I are vaccinated with boosters, plus we’re both in good general health, but my worry has always been more about the kids. Milly got her first shot shortly after she became eligible, but Fawkes, Phoenix, and Griffin are too young.

Still, as I write this they’re all sitting in the playroom with Tangled on the TV playing with Legos and such. Their temperatures were still a little elevated this morning, but not bad at all.

As for myself, I’ve felt better. The throat is a little worse, I feel weary and I’ve got that tingly, sensitive skin feeling you get with a fever, though my temperature is in line with the boys’. I do feel a little like I want to throw up every time I stand up, which isn’t fun, but it’s manageable. Really I just wish I could sleep through as much of it as possible right now, but I can’t do that with the kids around, and their naps have been spotty at best of late. But I’m mostly doing fine, so I expect I’ll live.