It started with Little Bear last Monday, followed by Tuxedo Cat that Friday. Then my parents got it and yesterday I was hit with it – hard. (Didn’t realize until today that the reason my family has always used the term “creeping crud” for illness that spreads to everyone is because it’s military slang. Kind of amusing.)

I can completely understand now why both boys were so miserable if they had the pain I was having in my gut. I spent the entire day in bed and slept off and on. Only got up to take care of whatever the boys needed that they couldn’t take care of themselves – like dinner.

Also managed to wash and dry another load of laundry. What is it with boys and going through so many clothes in one day anyway? I honestly (and naively) thought I would be safe from that since I had believed it was just a girl thing. I was WRONG. So very wrong. And it’s not just a lot of laundry, but it’s SMELLY laundry. From hell.

Nice thing was both Scholar Owl and Little Bear tried to take care of me yesterday. Ice packs, heat packs, tea, and food I just couldn’t eat. Felt bad about that last one, even if it was just baby carrots and crackers – although it was enlightening to see what Little Bear thought of as comfort food. The crackers made sense to me, not sure about the baby carrots.

Needless to say, no writing got done yesterday and I’m falling woefully behind on getting the novel finished according to my plans. Still need to get the rest of the prompts set up and scheduled. I’ve also started thinking about the revision process, which I feel will be different for this book since it was pants’ed compared to the other that I had pre-planned and outlined before I started writing. I’m considering posting some follow up thoughts on revision once I’m done with the prompts.

Little Bear seems to be doing better at school, so I’m hoping it lasts for awhile. He’s not showing any of the symptoms the school is complaining about at home, so I’m more inclined to think it’s a boundaries issue rather than psychosis. This is a kid that if you give him an inch, he’ll run you for miles. I hate playing hard ball, but with this guy you have to and it sucks.

I’m thinking I may need to switch over to a daily assignment sheet for Scholar Owl instead of a weekly one. What I see happening right now is he’s focusing more on certain subjects while others are forgotten. If we weren’t doing the portfolio assessment method, this wouldn’t be an issue. Doing the standardized testing method would be at the end of the year so how he completed each subject and in what order would be a moot point.

HOWEVER, he had already demonstrated in public school that he can turn nothing in all year and then ace those exams. I don’t care about the grades, this is why I switched back to the pass/fail system. I want to see him get the work done and meet the deadlines. In the adult world, this is what people and businesses really care about. You can still have excellence, but it’s worthless if it’s not on time.

Also need to follow up on the after school clubs Tuxedo Cat and Scholar Owl want to join. They both expressed an interest in the Bowling Club and the Gaming Club (secretly thrilled by the last one, being a gamer myself). Need to figure out the days, times, and locations along with transportation. I’m pleased as punch to see Tuxedo Cat actively searching for ways to be more social. Meanwhile, I need to give Scholar Owl a push. Told him to pick at least one club. He chose the Bowling Club since it will also count towards his PE requirement for homeschool.

So yeah, the cold season is definitely here! I also saw in the news today about an expected surge of the flu this year. The need for self care this season seems pretty high. Get the sleep you need, eat well, practice good hygiene – the list goes on. I hope this is the worst of it for us this year and I hope all of you come out unscathed.