Why do things ALWAYS happen when Damien is away??

And, on a related note, why do kids always get sick on the weekends?

So here goes, timeline of disaster, so far:

Wednesday, Damien is scheduled to leave to Israel for a week and a half. I wake up that morning a bit itchy all over, complain about having been bitten by mosquitoes yet again while my husband is being ignored by the little blood-suckers. By noon, I have red blotchy spots covering the backs of my legs and my arms, and I am being driven to insanity while trying not to scratch too obviously when teaching class. Hives, big time. Of course, as I am pregnant I cannot take the regular pills I do. Fortunately, the pharmacists advises me late that afternoon that  there IS an antihistamine I can take while pregnant, which has the mild side effect of causing drowsiness. I take one, and serve cereal and milk for dinner. Can't possibly go through the complexity of the process that would lead to production of an actual hot meal. Thank goodness, the pill works - on all counts. Now, to add to the usual exhaustion I deal with from the Little Bruiser, I have a medication-induced drowsiness to deal with. Swell.

Thursday, I wake up with less hives, more tiredness. Have I slept at all?

Friday, as above. Suffer through gymnastics and ratty kids. I have amazing friends - Beth invited us for dinner, so I don't have to face that myself. Kylie calls in the evening saying she won't be coming on Saturday, but on Monday. A little dent in my plan - have a committee meeting to go to Saturday at 4pm, and will now have to take the kids with me, but that's okay. Worked it out, Sophie will have the portable DVD player, Ben will play Angry Birds on my phone. All good, right? Wrong.

Saturday, feel better, don't have to take the pills anymore and deal with the regular sort of drowsiness only. Suffer through ratty kids at swimming. Ratty kid, actually. Ben is chirpy and cheerful since morning and does great at swimming, while Sophie is so terrible that the instructor actually has to sit her out. In the end I grab her before the lesson is finished - she is learning nothing and disrupting the class for the other kids. Ben continues for another twenty minutes to be lovely and cheerful, whereupon he turns upset and grey in what seems to be thirty seconds. In quick progression, he turns white, and then green, starts complaining of stomachache and headache, and starts feeling hot to the touch. By the time we get home half and hour later, he is sporting a 39 degree fever. And, of course, it is Saturday. Thinking about it, I don't recall a single occasion where my kids got sick on a weekday. It is ALWAYS weekends, when it is just a little harder to get an appointment at the doctors. We're in luck, though. I get an appointment at the hospital after hours service at 3.40pm, and take very drowsy and unhappy Ben there, while Beth (bless her kind heart) is looking after Sophie. (Well, there, at least, goes my potential problem with kids at the meeting, hey?) The doctor checks EVERYTHING, and finds nothing, except for the bloody fever. I am worried about appendicitis, but am assured that's not it. Glad for that! Doctor says probably early into a bacterial infection (as viral infections, it would appear, rarely result in such high fevers... never knew that), prescribes antibiotics. Pick up Sophie, apparently she has been an angel - of course she turns into a nightmare as soon as we get into the car. Ben hardly eats, Sophie whinges constantly about Ben hanging off me, and wants to hang off me as well. Thankfully, they both asleep pretty soon after I climb into bed with them - Ben first, Sophie second. Ben still has a fever. Have to wake him up for another dose of antibiotics, plus more Panadol soon.

My feet started itching like crazy about an hour ago. Hope it is mosquitoes, this time.

It's going to be a great night.