Apologies for the delayed post, but I’m sure a few of you can relate to the following:

The decorations had been up for weeks, the menu was set and I had scored the perfect set of Christmas dishes for half price at the local thrift shop. All of the gifts were wrapped, and my youngest son had beautifully completed decorating our Christmas tree. Each night, my family and I listened to Christmas music during dinner in great anticipation for the holiday. The week before Christmas seemed to last forever. My two boys were counting down school days, as were my husband and I, who are both teachers. Friday night we were all so excited because there were only two more school days to go until Christmas break officially began.

I woke up on the Saturday morning before Christmas feeling a bit more sluggish than usual and my throat hurt, but it was nothing too terrible. I knew I should take it easy, but Saturday is house cleaning day and I was hosting Christmas Eve dinner that Wednesday, so I slowly started moving through the steps to get the house in order. I began by stripping the sheets and remaking the beds. My husband went food shopping while I tackled both bathrooms and the kitchen. By the time we got into bed that night, I was feeling quite sick and took my temperature. It was 99.9. Not too bad, I told myself. I could turn things around before Wednesday. I told my husband I needed to take it easier the next day. He said he would do anything I needed on Sunday so I could take the day to rest. We went to bed around 9pm. At 12:30am, both of us jolted out of bed after hearing what sounded like a huge splash of water coming from our older son’s room. My husband called out to him as we raced to his bedroom, which is right next to ours.

I flipped on the overhead light. There was our son, leaning over his bedroom garbage can, vomiting his brains out. When he looked up, I knew it was bad. His eyes were glassy and his complexion was almost gray in color.

“I felt like I was going to be sick, so I brought the garbage can over next to my bed,” He murmured.

“Good thinking.” I said. Can you make it to the bathroom?”

“I think so,” he replied, exhausted.

We barely made it in time. He was very sick.

The next three and a half hours consisted of temperature taking, back rubbing and cleaning the bathroom toilet on repeat, as my son was sick again and again. I felt terribly for him, and for my husband and I. So much for getting any needed rest. At 4am, we had him back in bed and he was asleep. I was glad his body was finally letting him rest. He was completely spent.

Literally 15 minutes later, a splashing sound similar to the one we had heard earlier came from our younger son’s room. He was sick as well, except he didn’t think to place a garbage can nearby. His bedding and carpet were covered in vomit. I helped him into the bathroom, and my husband was on cleaning duty. Our younger son did not stop vomiting until 6:30am. Neither my husband or I got any sleep that night or the next day, as the vomiting sessions continued for both boys. We called telehealth and were told that it was the flu and it was running rampant in our area. All we could do is try to keep the boys hydrated. They both looked absolutely awful.

By Monday, all of us were completely worn out. Both boys were still in full flu mode and then suddenly, I got the chills and my flu symptoms started. I don’t remember much of Monday or Tuesday because all I was trying to do was stay warm and keep my eyes closed – I had an unbelievably terrible headache, but thankfully, no nausea. Obviously, no one went to work or school and we realized there was no avoiding it: Christmas for us was canceled.

On Wednesday, December 24th, my sons and I were still in bed with fevers. My husband was in charge of bringing us water when we needed it, as that was all we could handle. He made a pot of chicken soup so it would be ready when we were feeling better enough to sit up and eat it. Thank God, he didn’t get sick.

Christmas morning, the boys were a bit better, but I was still ill. I managed to come downstairs to watch them open presents. They were happy, but there were also some tears because we all weren’t feeling 100% and we weren’t going to see any family that day. My younger son said, “Christmas got ruined.”

If I had to create a metaphor for this Christmas, it’s like someone was playing a Christmas record with a really long intro and right when the chorus was about to start, the record player needle skipped over it and then played the tail end of the track. Beyond frustrating!

Of course, for the boys’ sake, my husband and I tried to be positive, but let’s be honest, Christmas did get ruined. You can’t really enjoy Christmas when you have any version of the flu. I slept through most of the day and the boys just lounged in bed watching tv. No one had energy for anything else. It wasn’t the end of the world by far, but it did stink.

It wasn’t just the boys who felt let down. Even at my age, I have a hard time remembering to stay positive when things don’t go as planned, especially when I consider all of the effort I put into making sure the holiday would be “perfect”. I tried to snap out of it, but without much success.

By Monday our flu symptoms had eased up, but our appetites still weren’t 100% and my older son and I still had lingering coughs. The doctor I saw on Sunday at urgent care said those coughs might be with us for another 3-4 weeks. Fun times.

Then came New Year’s Eve. My husband went out and bought the kids 2026 glasses and noise makers. I still had all the ingredients I needed to make the lasagna I was supposed to make for Christmas Eve, but admittedly not the energy to do it, as my constant cough was taking a lot out of me. I pushed through though because I really did want to celebrate and I do love hosting. Thankfully, everyone was well enough to enjoy the evening and we even got to watch the finale of Stranger Things together, which was nice. FYI: if you haven’t seen it, the last episode was pretty good. Not “season 1 good”, but good just the same.

It’s now New Year’s Day and I can’t believe the break is almost over because I feel like it barely got started. I’m still coughing a lot, but I’m sure I’ll be 100% better right in time for the first day back to work (I know, attitude!). I have to remind myself that there’s February break in a few weeks and only three more months until Easter break. After that, summer will be here before we know it. Crazy!

So, with a semi-positive outlook and an incessantly annoying cough, I wish you all a happy, HEALTHY New Year!

I hope your New Year’s Eve record played all the way through with no skips, if you know what I mean, but if you had a rough week too, I feel your frustration. Just remember there’s always next year!