And the Disease of the Month Is . . .

Hand Foot and Mouth Disease!!!!! Yet another, random, third-world-type illness to make its way into the Doublestein house. I swear: I clean my house. My children wash their hands before each and every meal, after they use the bathroom, and after being someplace "germy." They take baths every single night. Yet: ringworm. Stomach flu, two times. Ear infections. Colds with coughs that last three weeks. And now, HFMD. Good grief.

We knew something was up with Annie on Sunday morning. I got up early, hiked it to the grocery store before anyone woke up, and brought home donuts for the fam to eat in bed for a special Father's Day treat. Annie didn't take one bite. Instead, she went to lie down on the couch, saying she was "so tired" - this, at 8:00 a.m. after 12 hours of sleep. When Annie doesn't eat a donut, you know something is very, very wrong. She spent the rest of Sunday on the couch with a fever of 101.something, complaining of a sore throat and mouth, and eating next to nothing.

So yesterday morning, instead of heading to gymnastics, we flailed around the house to make it to the doctor's office before the walk-in hours (7:30 - 8:45) were over. Jemma slept so late that I actually had to wake her up and plop her in her carseat in her jammies, with no shoes, with a dry waffle to eat on the way. PLG. (Bonus: ran into Sarah with the twins there, pulling into the parking lot at the same time. I guess a trip to the pediatrician isn't a total loss when you get to run into good friends and see their cute kids!)

The doctor looked in Annie's throat, swabbed to rule out strep, and made the diagnosis casually, as if this virus doesn't sound like something you would get along with Mad Cow disease. I guess it's super-contagious, especially among kids during summer months (who knew?) and, really, it just involves a sore throat and mouth, diminished appetite, a fever for a couple of days, and sometimes a rash on the hands and feet (we don't have that going here). As viruses go, I'll take it over the stomach flu any day of the week.

So, now that Annie's getting over it but Jemma is likely to get it within a day or two, we're confining ourselves to places where the girls can be strapped into the jogging stroller or the wagon. Yesterday morning, we did a big walk and got groceries. This morning, we hit the zoo (which, in my opinion, is already filthy anyway) and the girls ooooohed and aaaahed at the new lion exhibit, the tiger, the penguins, and the baby goats for a couple hours before having a picnic lunch and making it home in time for naps. This afternoon, I bribed them with snacks so I could do a run with the jogging stroller before making some dinner. HFM disease, you have not stopped us from enjoying our summer. But please, no more third-world illnesses here for a while.