Florence Nightingale

(alternate title: Back to the Infirmary)

As a little girl, I loved Florence Nightingale. I loved to tend to the sick as best I could when my siblings weren't well (I am one of six kids, so it happened). I also wanted to be the one to tend to the cuts and injuries of the household. My father called me Florence Nightingale sometimes and I remember it always gave me a huge sense of pride.

A little history lesson: Florence Nightingale was a Christian who believed God had called her to be a nurse. She was born in 1820 and she rebelled against the expected role of a women. She worked hard in school and studied medicine. She is also famous for tending to soldiers at war time. International Nurses Day is on her birthday.

So, I always assumed I'd be a nurse.

If there is ever an ailment that a friend or family member has, I usually try to study up on it. I do this to be informed, but also because I enjoy soaking up that knowledge. It interests me.

I am forever amazed at how amazingly complex God has created us!

Flash forward to today: I am not a nurse, per se. College proved to be a little stressful for a competitive perfectionist that wasn't an A+ student (that is another story). Sometimes I wish I had made it through nursing school, but I am beyond happy to be a stay-at-home mom during this stage in life.

And, as a mom, I get to play nurse a lot.

Capps was last week, and Daegan tested positive for flu today. I feel like I can still pride myself on good disinfecting technique, which I get a little crazy about - in normal life, I am so not a germ-a-phobe. But, when someone is sick, I probably make them feel like a leper. I make them stay on the couch, lysol everything they touch (remote control, door knobs, light switches, toilet handles), keep hand sanitizer by them, etc.

So, if Daegan has the flu now, six days after Capps' fever showed up, how can I feel so confident about disinfecting? Capps had Flu B, Daegan has Flu A, so Dr. E says he got it at school.

...off to learn the difference...