Under the Influence of The Chicken Pox

1996 Olan Mills Photo_Church Directory_Whitefield Baptist Church

*** Is this not the sweetest picture you've ever seen!!! 

The BOYS! The Hair! 

(mine and Mike's hair not the boys)

I am still missing one entire month of my life as a minister’s wife.  Six weeks, in fact.  I don’t think I saw anyone outside of our house in small-town Williamston, SC for the month of May in 1995.  There was only a sea of oatmeal baths, fevers, irritability, and The Chicken Pox.

The boys were very young, then.  I had taken them for a well check with our pediatrician one day and she discussed with me the Chicken Pox Vaccine which was quite new on the market and being offered to parents to help prevent the virus in young children.  

When I asked her if this would ensure they never had chicken pox, she said that it was unknown at the time.  Would they need a booster later? Again, she didn’t know.  The vaccine was that new and  statistic to go with the recommendation were low. So I opted to take my chances. 

A month almost to the day!!! We had a break out!!

Kyle was in North Carolina visiting Meme and Granddady one weekend.  They liked to get the boys and spend time with them as much as they could and it gave me a break too.  The boys all loved getting to spend time with Mike’s parents.  And that weekend was Kyle’s turn.

While Kyle  (age 2) was away, Cameron (age 4) and Matthew (age 3) had uninterrupted time to play games like Sonic the Hedgehog and other games that their younger brother in his toddlerhood couldn’t quiet play.  OK, so he would like barrel though their Lego tower, or their blanket fort and then laugh and this would frustrate Cameron and Matthew to no end! It was really a fun time!  

Three boys under the age of four.  Yep. 

One evening after playing outside, I bathed Cameron and Matthew to get them ready for bed.  They loved playtime in the bathtub!  But then I noticed a small blister on Matthew’s chest and another on his shoulder.  Could it be?  Oh, yes.  By the next morning, he had a really good scattering of chicken pox all over.

Oh, well.  Chicken Pox, here we come!  Matthew had a mild case of the virus, but then exactly two weeks to the day, Cameron broke out.  I went ahead and exposed Kyle, since we might as well just get it all out of the way!  (is that bad parenting? Don’t answer that.)

Cameron’s case of the pox was awful.  He ran a fever, felt really bad and was covered in blisters.  There was not one spot on him that was clear.  Bless him. He looked really bad too.  I am thankful that he had them young and not in middle school or high school.  That would have been horrible on so many other levels as well!

Cameron had to see the pediatrician and take a prescription.  Poor thing. 

Exactly two weeks after Cameron’s eruption, Kyle broke out.  Fortunately, he did not have as bad a case as Cameron’s but still…six weeks of my life were under the influence of The Chicken Pox. 

When I made it back to church after all our blisters had scabbed over and we were no longer contagious, everyone wanted to know where I had been!  

We were a memorable family, after all...  THREE BOYS ages four, three and one... THAT can make an impression for sure.  

One thing is for certain, though… I was sick of oatmeal baths and chickenpox!

My Guys...Fall 2014