Christmas 2012 can officially go on the record as the worst Christmas that I can remember. Seriously, I think I’m going to aim for a holiday do-over sometime early next year.
It started on Christmas Eve, when Adam looked a bit lethargic and tucked himself into my bed during the day for a little nap. We had to wake him up to head over to my in-laws’ house, though Adam claimed that he would be okay with staying home and skipping the presents and dinner. At the time, we thought he was just a little amped up with holiday excitement and figured he’d snap out of it once he was up and moving around.
As it turned out, he spent most of the time at Todd’s parents’ house lying on the sofa, buried under piles of blankets and he didn’t even join us for dinner. He did perk up a little when it came time to open gifts, but even then he seemed a shadow of himself.
And then, just as we were getting ready to leave, he threw up. No big deal, I thought. He’s just over excited and he needs a good night’s sleep.
Everyone slept in until after seven o’clock on Christmas morning, and then Elizabeth and Leah tore into their gifts while Adam sat slumped over with an ice pack wrapped around his head, halfheartedly picking at wrapping paper. Even his much desired iPod Nano elicited only the smallest amount of enthusiasm.
Adam spent most of Christmas Day dozing on the sofa and, once my family arrived, we sort of did Christmas around him. It was very odd but we tried to make things work as best we could.
Finally we sat down for dinner (well, except for Adam, who had fallen back asleep once again) and then, once everyone had piled their plates full of yumminess, Leah leaned forward and threw up into her dinner. Sigh. Not exactly the most appetizing of experiences.
And it’s only gone downhill from there. Both Adam and Leah ended up feverish and miserable on Boxing Day, at which point I succumbed to the same horrible virus. Todd followed soon after. Elizabeth, on the other hand, is smartly hiding out in her room and only venturing downstairs when absolutely critical.
The four of us have been mostly hanging out on the sofa, occasionally taking breaks to go upstairs to nap. We have never been so sick — particularly at the same time. Even weirder is that we don’t all have the same symptoms. Adam and Leah had fevers (which thankfully broke before I started to panic), Todd and I are achy, Adam and I have been coughing, Leah is super congested and has gone through two boxes of tissues, Todd and Adam are exhausted beyond belief…
So Christmas has been a bit of a mess. The more I think about this, the more I like the idea of a holiday do-over. Hopefully in the new year, once everyone is feeling better, we can have a special family meal together and ooh and aah over all the fabulous gifts that made their way under the tree. And maybe, eventually, we’ll be able to look back on this holiday and laugh. If nothing else, it did encourage some family togetherness.