“Germ Warfare: The Swine Flu Chronicles”
I heard a weird noise the other day and turned around to see my seven year old twin boys and their friends sneezing and coughing all over each. Each wheeze was accompanied by those sound effects little boys make when they are pretending to be Ninjas or Luke Skywalker.
“Nyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah, yeewaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaak, spleeeeeerk!”
What was happening? It was the beginning of the battle of the swine flu.
“Stop that,” I screamed. “You know you’re meant to be covering your mouths, and not sneezing and coughing on each other. You’ll get each other sick!”
A few minutes later, there was another wet snort. One had done a pretend, but wet, snort over the other. They were breathing heavily over each other and giggling.
Imagine long Darth Vader sounding exhalations ….. wwhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhiiiiirrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
Boys play swine flu warriors
Then, as they say in the classics, dear reader, it hit me.
The boys were playing “Germ Warfare: The Swine Flu Chronicles,” a new spin on Star Wars Chronicles.
They know it’s bad to cough and sneeze on each other. Most of the time, and when parents and teachers are looking, they are good little boys. They do the right thing: They cover their mouths, they sneeze into their sleeves and they wash their hands without being asked at least four times. They even do the right thing when nobody is looking … most of the time.
But these repeated warnings about the risks of swine flu at school and at home have also made them realize that “germing” someone is about the worst thing you can do these days.
It is more powerful than a lightsaber, it is more potent than a stick and it certainly gets my attention.
After telling a reporter from the Washington Post about this yesterday, I fretted that my kids and some of their friends were the only aberrant children around.
Volunteering on the school playground yesterday, I watched for sneeze warfare. Nothing. I only saw perfectly proscribed behavior: Correct sneezing and coughing into the crook of arms.
When I sheepishly asked a friend if I was the only one who’d seen this, she laughed and said, “Absolutely not!” She’d seen her son cough all over his sister, knowing that was about the worst thing possible right now. I was relieved to find other moms like me.
In other eras, kids played Cowboys and Indians, Fighter Pilots, goodies and baddies, Batman and Robin so I suppose Germ Warfare is only natural for children of 2009.
But it makes me feel like I am Osama Bin Mommy harboring germ terrorists in the deep dark woods of Maryland.
Hey, while you are reading our blog, stick around and read some of our other posts on Swine Flu resources.
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Filed Under: Featured • Managing Your Career • The People Who Love Us
About the Author: Julie Power is a writer and editor with experience in both the United States and Australia. After living in the United States for 16 years, she recently returned to live in Sydney with her husband and twin boys (9 years old).
Follow @juliepower
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