Sunday, December 09, 2007

Tradition

Almost everyone I know has some kind of tradition revolving around Christmas.
Some people hang popcorn and cranberry garlands on their tree. Some open their presents
on Christmas Eve instead of Christmas Day. Some go carol singing. The list goes on.
Every family has at least one thing they do a little differently.
I've decided we also have a family tradition.
We get sick.
Each year without fail, one or more of us comes down with something right around the holidays.
Some years it's been the flu. One year I had such severe neck pain I could hardly move.
This year it's my son's turn to carry on the family tradition.
He's got Chicken Pox.
Yep. We always wondered if he might have contracted a mild case of them when he was a baby,
because when his sister broke out with them at age nine, he remained immune. We even went as
far as having her spit on him...okay, well, no, we didn't. But you get the idea.
He never got them.
I was just saying to my sister I should get him tested to see if he has the virus...
I guess God figured He'd answer the question Himself.
Poor Chris. He broke out yesterday with just a few spots, but feeling really sick. Today he's covered.
Thankfully the rest of us have had them, so we're okay, but he will have to miss more school.
This is one family tradition I'd like to break.
Let's pray that next year we'll make a new tradition! I don't much like this one.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

I used to read Erma Bombeck a lot, and I remember a hilarious article by her about the same thing. Someone in her family was always sick on Christmas Day. In the article, she asked a friend to tell about their Christmas traditions. Erma would interject with, "But wait a minute, when do you go to the doctor? Okay...do you unwrap presents before or after you give the antibiotics?" That sort of thing. Oh well, at least you're not the only one!

Rebecca said...

I am with you on this one.......break it..........this year must be the last!!!