The Snory of the Common Denominator

Tracey has been ‘a bit tired’ now for going on 10 years – I’ve always assumed it was the kids. So has she, and that’s how I’d like to keep it.

Recent weeks have seen us battling all manner of bugs in our household: headaches, nausea, cramps and sore throats have been doing the rounds. And then more rounds.

An hour after all the kids were put to bed last night Master8 came shuffling into the kitchen, shaking and looking like shite and not interested in smiling at all.

“He’s got a fever,” I told Tracey. The battery operated thermometer is my job because it’s a gadget so it’s fun. “37.9 in one ear. 37.5 in the other.” I maneuvered the thermometer some more. “Jeez, he’s really sick. I can’t get any sort of reading from his left nostril.”

That got a smile.

So last night Master8 slept in with Tracey and I hunkered down in his bed.

It was very exciting – it’s like camping out – until I rolled over and slammed my hand into the wall.

“Wha…? Are you alright?” came a sleepy voice from the other bed.

“Fine,” I said to Miss9, who shares the room with Master8.

“Dad? What are you doing here?” There was a pause. “Are you in trouble?”

I explained how Mummy wasn’t angry with Daddy for anything in particular and then about Master8 not being well and how we’d swapped beds.

“I knew he was sick,” said Miss9.

“Did you, love?”

“Yep. Because he usually doesn’t snore.”

As Master8 had been in our bed for a couple of hours at this point methinks that might have been me actually.

A thought which was borne out this morning when we were all up and getting ready for our day. Miss9’s eyes were hanging out of her head and Tracey, considering she’d been nursing the sick boy, looked remarkably refreshed.

Tracey hasn’t said anything yet but in the interests of marital bliss I think I might offer to sleep with any sick kids tonight. If she’s going to wake up refreshed again I’d rather it be because I was a martyr rather than because I wasn’t in the room.

When not typing away over here and checking his stats every two minutes Bruce Devereaux hangs out at his ‘BIG FAMILY little income’  Facebook Page.

 ’raising a family on little more than laughs’