1. To kick off our holiday adventure, I built up my son’s excitement about our journey from snowy Colorado to sunny California the day before Christmas. He was thrilled to spend time with his grandparents alongside my partner and our baby girl.
2. During the flight, I noticed my son looking a bit lethargic. A nagging thought crossed my mind—I probably shouldn’t have canceled his flu shot appointment a couple of weeks earlier. But I brushed it off, thinking he would be fine.
3. We landed on Christmas Eve, and the festivities began. The children enjoyed the beach while their great aunt and uncle arrived. My son baked Christmas cookies with his grandmother, likely licking his fingers and touching everything—an important detail that would come back to haunt us later. After the kids opened a few presents, I sipped eggnog, played the role of Santa, and then we settled in for a much-needed rest.
4. On Christmas night, I was jolted awake by the sounds of vomiting. Both my son and partner were burning with fever, clearly miserable and delirious. I spent the night worrying, changing sheets, and administering ibuprofen, while I remained healthy—thanks to my flu shot and the fact that our baby was too young for the virus to take hold.
5. Christmas Day dawned with little joy. The one child who should have been thrilled about Santa was too sick to care. My parents, who initially seemed fine, quickly succumbed to illness. Texts revealed that my aunt and uncle, who had visited the day prior, were also falling ill. My son had unwittingly spread the virus to at least five people, and I began to worry about the flu’s spread in California. Meanwhile, my partner and I were left to navigate a germ-ridden house, feeling isolated and overwhelmed.
6. Initially, my cleaning efforts were harmless, but soon, it became an obsession. I scrubbed every surface with bleach and cooked endless pots of chicken soup. The baby and I were stuck in a petri dish of germs, with nowhere to escape and no one to assist.
7. On the third day, my sister called from Minnesota, cheerfully informing me they wouldn’t be joining us this year. She hurriedly hung up, perhaps fearing the flu germs might travel through the phone lines.
8. Days passed in a haze of illness. My routine consisted of soup, crackers, checking temperatures, and endless laundry. It was a one-woman show—exhausting and relentless.
9. Gradually, my family started to recover. However, my son’s high fevers persisted, prompting a trip to urgent care on Saturday. After hours of waiting, we learned he had a ruptured eardrum and was prescribed antibiotics.
10. By Sunday, my mother developed a persistent cough that disrupted her sleep. I took her to urgent care, where she was diagnosed with bronchitis and given antibiotics.
11. Unfortunately, my son reacted poorly to the antibiotics, leading to more vomiting and severe diaper rash. Alarmed by his appearance, I took him back to urgent care.
12. At the clinic, a nurse informed me that both she and another nurse would need to hold my son down for a painful antibiotic injection. His cries were heart-wrenching, and in that moment, I might have promised him a pony.
13. Finally, after ten days of illness, my son’s appetite returned. With only three days left of our vacation, we managed a trip to the zoo and a visit to the park, where he saw palm trees for the first time.
14. Upon returning to kindergarten, my son was assigned to write about his Christmas vacation. His account? “This Christmas, I got sick and had to get a needle in my butt. It was this big————–. And I had a lady lay on me.”
In retrospect, what was meant to be a joyous holiday turned into an unexpected lesson in resilience and the unpredictable nature of life—especially during the flu season.
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Summary
This humorous yet cautionary tale illustrates the chaos that can ensue during family gatherings, especially when illness strikes unexpectedly. The narrative follows the journey of a family who, despite their best intentions, faced a flu outbreak that affected everyone except the author and the baby. The experience highlights the unpredictability of holiday celebrations and the importance of health precautions.
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